Pay Attention Please
by Annie D
Summary: Just another RuHana story. Completed. Yosh!
1. Introduction

**Fandom**: Slam Dunk   
**Warnings**: Shounen ai.   
**Pairing**: RuHana.   
**Rating**: PG-13 for language.   
**Disclaimer**: Slam Dunk rights I will not fight for.   
**Notes**: This fic is slightly lengthy because at the time of writing I had to scrape the bottom of the barrel for plot ideas and so had to settle for stalling a lot.   
**Dedicated to**: In no particular order, Nina for her encouragement on all things slashy, San-chan for squealing whenever Rukawa "valiantly goes to Sakuragi's rescue", my cousin who shall remain nameless because it was she who got me started on the SD manga ages ago, the mum for being surprisingly nice and agreeing to record the anime episodes I had missed while away, Kusao Takeshi for being the brilliant seiyuu behind Sakuragi's maniacal laugh, and to every single person who's ever written a RuHana fic, seeing chances are quite a number have used the ploy I used in the following fic (considering how obvious it would be to use it) and seeing that my idea supply has gone dry I've decided to use it too. Ha ha ha. I just want them to get together, who needs an original storyline?   
  
  


**Pay Attention Please**

by Annie D   
the_80s_chick@lycos.com   
  


INTRODUCTION 

  
  
  


Konnichiwa. I'm Ayako, senior at Shohoku High, and the team manager of the basketball team. 

Basketball means a lot to me, and my love for the sport has grown over the past year, what with my team rising from obscurity to become second best of Kanagawa. We even beat Sannoh the number 1 seeded team (!) during nationals, which was a really amazing experience that I'll never forget. I never thought I would be able to feel as proud as I am now for the team, but I am. And Shohoku will do even better this new year, I know we will. 

But that's not what I wanted to tell you. 

You see, what's been on my mind (other that basketball), has been the fact that two of the players on my team developed something of a… um… chemistry? Yes, I think that's an okay word - _chemistry_ with one another. 

First of all there's Sakuragi Hanamichi. He's loud, annoying, at times incredibly stupid, and during the first few months of being on the team caused me to reload my paper fan so many times that my wrist hurt. He calls himself the "tensai", and has this really nerve-grating laughter that made me want to slap him at first. After a while the laughter became something of a trademark, and a comfort to the team. 

But anyway, the thing with Hanamichi is that he joined the team because of Haruko, who is sister of Akagi Takenori - our captain last year. But he rose above that simple reason and now plays for the love of the game - something I realised faster than he did, but perhaps not as fast as Anzai-sensei. Hanamichi is… well… it's hard to describe him other than LOUD. And most of the time he's uncontrollable. And annoying. But loveable in a strange sort of way. 

The second guy is Rukawa Kaede, Super Rookie who joined the Shohoku team last year along with Hanamichi, but that's where the similarity ends between them (except perhaps the fact that at first both of them refused to be team players). Rukawa's quiet, keeps to himself, doesn't smile or laugh, is _very_ controlled and has incredible talent on the court. 

I've known Rukawa since our Junior High days, so I guess that makes me more of an expert on him than anyone else in Shohoku. Rukawa was pretty much the same in Junior High - quiet, kept to himself, didn't smile or laugh, was very controlled, talented on the court… except for one thing. Back then, _nothing_ could provoke him. Nothing. Except maybe a basketball player who challenges him on the court, but that's just game, propelled by Rukawa's intense desire to be the best. No one could ever _ever_ provoke Mr Ice Man Super Rookie anywhere else. 

But then… 

Well, I guess at first I thought it natural that Hanamichi's innate loud tensai-ness would annoy Rukawa, because hey, it annoyed everyone else. Their scuffles and Rukawa's one-liners became something of a trademark of the team (along with Akagi's head-bashing and my fan-slapping), and so nobody really paid it more attention than the usual "Oh no, please don't fight now, we've got a game to play." 

But that's because everybody else involved with the team are guys, and the only girls that _do_ show interest are sad little Rukawa groupies. (Sorry, Haruko, but it's true!) 

So that just left me. I'm the team manager, and I _have_ to be objective. My eyes need to open, and kept them open I have. 

So, would you now, imagine my shock when I realised that the chemistry between Hanamichi and Rukawa could be beyond just rivalry? Hanamichi still hated Rukawa because of the latter's tendency to steal the limelight and Haruko's attention, but as for Rukawa… I think I realised it some time last year when the Kanagawa trials were nearing to a close. I finally, _finally_ noticed that Rukawa's rebuttals were no longer due to Hanamichi's provoking. Rukawa gave them simply because… he could. 

That lead me to thinking… Why would Rukawa bother with Hanamichi? He never bothered with anyone else before. He never opened his mouth to give two words to _anyone_ if he could help it. Yet here he was, still doing the one-liner "Do'aho" thing and making random comments whenever he could. Why? 

At first I thought it had become habit for Rukawa to insult Hanamichi, but then I started to notice other things… 

Like, take for example, the game we had against Shoyo last year. Hanamichi had gotten four fouls, and was in danger of being removed from the game, so he was too afraid to play aggressively and chickened out whenever he needed to make a good rebound. 

And what did Rukawa do? He went to Hanamichi and said (and I quote): "What you shrinking for? It's not like you, isn't it?" 

Rukawa… Rukawa, who never bothered with any of his teammates, who was known for being a solo player, who barely opened his mouth to anyone, was not only _talking to Hanamichi without being provoked_, but _pushing him to play better_! 

At the time I told myself it had to be because Rukawa wanted to win the game and it had nothing to do with Hanamichi personally, or perhaps Rukawa was just annoyed with Hanamichi's lack of performance. But if either were true, wouldn't have Rukawa just taken the rebounding task himself as he always likes to do when the game isn't going his way? If it had Mitsui, or Ryota, or Akagi in trouble, would he have bothered to talk to them? No, I don't think so. 

So why? Why? 

That's when it finally hit me. Oh. My. God. 

And when _that_ possibility finally revealed itself, my eyes opened even wider and I was _seeing even more of it_ left, right and centre. All over the place! All the time! At that frequency, it became painfully clear that I was _not _imagining it. It was _there_. 

So what was I supposed to do? Of course, it's none of my business. I'm the team manager, I mind the game plays. I stayed out of Rukawa's way, and let him do whatever he wanted to do to Hanamichi, even if I had to constantly bite down the incredible urge to giggle whenever he did. I watched from the sidelines, because that's my job. 

Most girls (though admittedly not all) have a sixth sense when it comes to identifying a guy's affections toward another person. That's why girlfriends exchange notes about who they know likes who, because it's only by being a third party can a girl see the chemistry (cough) between two people. And so I knew about Rukawa's - oh wow I can't think of word for this… affections? feelings? well, _whatever_ it is - toward Hanamichi, even if _he _(Rukawa) didn't. And Hanamichi wouldn't see something that obvious unless it hit him between the eyes and scurried up his nose. 

They're both STUPID BOYS. Stupid, stupid boys. 

But it was none of my business, so I kept out of it. Actually, I shouldn't even care because I'm just there as team manager. Really. So what if Hanamichi's slow and dense and simple-minded and only sees Haruko? So what if Rukawa's attempts to get Hanamichi's attention were going unnoticed? 

So I remained a bystander, enjoying the free entertaining that came from just watching them. Sometimes I wished I could have mentioned it to someone else, but who'd listen, really? Sometimes I think that Anzai-sensei knew about it, too, although I can never be certain about that one. 

But now… I guess this year won't be as entertaining. Rukawa's left us for the All-Japan team, so he won't be around to torment (ahem ahem) Hanamichi anymore. I wonder how Hanamichi'll react to that? The guy's been away for treatment on his back, but he's due to return to school (and the team) any day now. 

I guess I'm a little sad that I won't be able to watch them bicker like usual. Things just won't be the same, I guess… 


	2. Ground Zero, Minus the Zero

  
**Pay Attention Please**

by Annie D   
the_80s_chick@lycos.com 

CHAPTER 1   
Ground Zero, Minus the Zero 

  
  
  


The tranquillity of the new morning was about to be broken. 

"Aaaaaaaaaaaa! I'm late I'm late I'm late!" 

A bunch of innocent little birds that had gathered on a pavement block to peck at crumbs scattered in a panic as a tall bounding figure with distinctive red hair ran past them. 

"I'm late I'm late I'm late!" 

He turned the corner sharply, his shoes screeching against the pavement. 

"K'so! I'm late!" 

The specimen is none other than Sakuragi Hanamichi, basketball tensai (so he claims), late for his first day back at Shohoku. He had been an invalid during most of his holidays and the first weeks to school, much to his frustration, but he had _finally _been released and had planned to make a dramatic entrance at school in front of anyone which had unfortunately (or fortunately) not happened thanks to his faulty alarm clock. 

So, with his long strides propelling him at super speed, Sakuragi quickly reached his destination: the Shohoku school building, which was now quiet as the students had all retreated into their respective classes for the day. 

Not even taking a pause to breathe, he steamed through the gates, into the main school building, up the staircase to the Year 2 floor and scanned frantically for his classroom. 

Just then, somebody behind him shouted, "Sakuragi Hanamichi!" 

_K'so… _He slowly turned to see the disciplinary teacher standing down the corridor, tapping his foot impatiently against the floor. 

"Late for your first day of school, Sakuragi? I suppose you overslept," the teacher said sarcastically as he slowly walked toward him. 

"Hah hah hah, well…" Sakuragi scratched behind his head. "Does it really count? It's only my first day back and-" 

"You have always been a troublemaker, Sakuragi!" the teacher snapped. He had a lot of guts to speak to Sakuragi that way, seeing that the sophomore basketball player was more than a foot taller than him and could easily - if he wanted to - fling him out the window by barely twitching a muscle. But Sakuragi, who was already in something of a panic because he had woken up late, forgot to be angry. 

"Now get to your class! Over there, now, chop chop!" the teacher snapped, waving his arms. "And don't let me catch you coming to school late again, or else…" 

Sakuragi blinked. "Or else what?" 

"Or else…" The teacher narrowed his eyes. "Just go to class, Sakuragi!" 

"Hai!" and Sakuragi bounded off to his class. 

When he slid open the door, he found himself the recipient of the stares of his seated classmates and the Year 2 English teacher, who smartly did not say anything about his tardiness (he had been forewarned of Sakuragi's antics). 

"Ohayo!" Sakuragi announced cheerfully as he waved at his friends at the back, unaware of how the rest of the class cringed simultaneously at the sound of his over-loud voice. His best friend Yohei had saved him the window seat, which he gratefully dropped into. 

"Welcome back, Hanamichi!" whispered Takamiya, who leaned back in his seat to grin at him. "You're looking good." 

"Yeah, how's the back?" Yohei asked. 

"The tensai is in perfect condition once again!" Sakuragi told them. A bit too loudly, as a number of students around them turned to give dirty looks. 

_Yes… The tensai is finally back! I wonder how the team has been doing since I've been away… Oh, poor things, having to cope without the tensai being around… But Haruko-san's the assistant team manager now, I'm sure she's been going a great job! Of course, now with the tensai back they will have nothing to worry about anymore…_

Unable to control himself, Sakuragi laughed aloud. "Hahahahahahaha!" 

Takamiya sweatdropped, Noma and Yuji strived to make it appear that they didn't know him, the rest of the class either shuddered in shock or scowled in distaste, the teacher just sighed and tried to continue teaching. 

***** 

"Ayako-san!" 

Ayako turned to see Haruko running toward her, eyes bright. "What is it, Haruko-chan?" 

Haruko stopped in front of her and paused for a moment to gather her breath. She was smiling. "Sakuragi-kun's back! I just saw him a moment ago." 

Ayako's eyebrows jumped in a pleased fashion before turning to Ryota. "Hey, hear that, Ryota? Your rebound-o king is back." 

Ryota scowled, although it was quite obvious that he was happy with the news as well. "Oh no, just when the team was getting together so well…" He sighed. "He's gonna make trouble all over again, just like before." 

Ayako nudged Ryota in the ribs teasingly. "And how are you going to control him, Ryota? You can't do Akagi-sempai's head-bash, can you?" 

"That's what you're here for, Aya-chan," Ryota replied with a smirk. 

Haruko giggled. "Oh, isn't this wonderful? Now that Sakuragi-kun's back, we can make up for the loss of Rukawa-kun from the team." 

Ryota smirked. "He'd be happy to hear that…" 

Now-Captain Miyagi Ryota was certainly right about that last bit, because after school when they gathered in the gym for practice, Sakuragi made a particularly _lovely _dramatic entrance to make up for his late arrival in the morning - he framed himself in the double doorways of the gym (which was quite effective, considering his height and build), hands on hips, laughing like a madman (which he _is_, actually). 

He struck a pose. "Have no fear, the tensai is back!" 

Pindrop silence followed. 

Some of the newer players looked at each other. "Who's that?" 

"Hm?!" Sakuragi stomped up to them, causing a number to shrivel down in terror. "You don't know who I am? _You don't know the tensai_?!" His scary face then switched to a gleeful one as he snatched a basketball from one of the trembling freshmen. "The tensai will show you, newbies." 

At the bench, Ayako slapped her hand over her face in frustration. 

Haruko smiled weakly at her. "Hasn't changed, has he?" 

And so Sakuragi ran dribbling to a hoop, jumped and did a rather loud slam dunk - the first he'd done in quite a long time and was a little stiff but still impressive all the same. He landed, then turned to look at the stunned freshmen with a smug expression on his face. 

"Wow…" 

"He jumps so high!" 

"Hey wait… I know him!" 

Sakuragi smirked. _I knew they'd recognise the tensai sooner or later…_

"He's the funny red-head that kept getting disqualified during the Kanagawa trials!" 

Wrong thing to say, as the freshman discovered. Ryota had to peel the poor guy off the court floor as Haruko calmed the steaming Sakuragi down. Ayako sighed in the background, waving her paper fan in a nonchalant way. 

"Okay, new members, this is Sakuragi Hanamichi," said Haruko. 

Sakuragi puffed out his chest proudly, eyes sparkling with touched tears as Haruko the went on about how he was a regular member and quite well-known for his rebounding and defence skills. _I'm so happy… Haruko is still so proud of me… I cannot let her down!_

"Don't let it get to your head, Hanamichi," Ryota mumbled, kicking him slightly in the shins. "You haven't been practising for quite a long time." 

"Ryocchin, I know you're relieved that the tensai is back!" Sakuragi said, patting him on the shoulder. "Don't need to pretend, I know you were worried I wouldn't come back in time, right… Heh heh heh… And a few months off hasn't done anything to the tensai's POWER! Hahahahahahahaha!" 

Ryota shrugged. "Whatever." 

And so practice started. Sakuragi was back in his element, enjoying himself immensely now that he had the freshmen to bully ("Just let the tensai control under the basket, I have more experience than you, little newbies, hahahahaha!") and his back was no longer giving him any trouble. 

It was about an hour later before Sakuragi finally noticed that something was… well, not exactly wrong, but missing. Kind of like a sound that's constantly in the background, but you don't notice it's there until it stops and all you have is silence. 

He couldn't really explain it, because in all appearances everything was all right. Haruko, the new assistant team manageress, was spending more time with the team - and helping him personally, _heh heh heh_ - he was back on the court where he belonged (basketball tensai! Yosh!), and even Ryota wasn't bugging him as much because he was teaching the newcomers. 

But the gym seemed strangely quiet, even with all the noise around him. 

Being the slow person that he was, it was Ayako who had to point out to Sakuragi what was wrong. The team took a five-minute break, and Sakuragi - who didn't need breaks with his stamina - was tossing a basketball from hand to hand to practice the switch-hand move that Ryota had grudgingly taught him. 

"Hey, Hanamichi," said Ayako, striding up to him. 

Sakuragi eyed her paper fan carefully. When it became clear that it would not be circulating his head anytime soon, he relaxed and looked at her. "What's up, Ayako-san?" 

"So you feeling excited this year?" she asked. 

"Shohoku is going to win nationals!" Sakuragi boomed. A few freshmen nearby fell over in the shockwave. 

"Very optimistic, that's great!" Ayako exclaimed, patting Sakuragi gently on the back. She looked at the ceiling innocently then asked in a cheerful voice, "So… How do you think the team's doing now that Rukawa's gone?" 

"Grrr… Don't say his name in front of me," Sakuragi growled on reflex. Then suddenly it clicked. "Ooooh yeaaah! That's why the gym has been so quiet! Those annoying cheerleaders haven't been around since Rukawa left!" 

"That's true," said Ayako, sighing a little. "Been a bit of a relief." 

Ryota walked past and smirked at Sakuragi. "But with you around it doesn't make much difference since you make more noise than all those cheerleaders combined." 

"Say that again, Ryocchin!" 

Haruko, who had overhead the conversation, joined them. "You know, I heard that Rukawa-kun's doing very well in the All-Japan team. Although we were all quite sad that he decided to leave us after his training camp, it's great that he's settled in." 

Sakuragi scowled. _Stupid kitsune. Even when he's not here he still gets Haruko's attention._

Then Haruko added, "But he hasn't been made a regular member, yet, though." 

Sakuragi's eyes glowed. "Yessss! See, even the All-Japan admit that the kitsune's talent is only so-so… They should've got the tensai to join - muahahahahaha!" When he stopped laughing, he leaned back against the wall, grinning happily. 

_Oh yeah, so that's it, I forgot… Rukawa left the team! No surprise I didn't notice because the baka was always so useless and quiet anyway. _He raised his head and looked around, still grinning. _The team is so much better without him. He can no longer hold the tensai back! The kitsune is GONE GONE GONE!_

"Hahahahahaha!" 

It was a dream come true (so it seemed) for Sakuragi to return to the Shohoku team in full health and without the stupid show-off kitsune hovering around stealing the spotlight all the time. This year was going to be a good year. 

_Rukawa's gone. And without him, Haruko's attention is all mine… _He looked at her, smiling like a silly schoolboy boy with a crush (which was exactly what he was, of course). _I'm glad the kitsune's gone, and I won't ever think of him EVER AGAIN! Things will only get better for the tensai from now on!_

So he said. 

We know better, right? 


	3. A Little Reflection on the Situation

**Pay Attention Please**

by Annie D   
the_80s_chick@lycos.com   


CHAPTER 2   
A Little Reflection on the Situation 

  
  
  


Far, far away in the training centre of the All-Japan team, Rukawa Kaede was facing a problem of his own, although he wasn't fully aware of it yet. And no, it had nothing to do with Sakuragi… mostly. 

"Rukawa!" 

He caught the ball and dribbled it carefully, eyes darting to the players around him. It was a practice game for the junior members of the All-Japan Highschool Level, a clique into which Rukawa had been placed. When he had first arrived for the team he hadn't expected any special treatment despite Shohoku's success in the nationals the previous year, and no special treatment was exactly what he got. 

_I will be the best… I will be the best… I will be the best…_

Rukawa charged through the defense wall and leapt to make a jump shot. It sailed over the head of the player that had jumped to block him, and fell into the hoop almost lazily. 

Rukawa landed, and a moment later felt a hand pat him on the shoulder. 

"Nice one, Rukawa-san, but you need to brush up on your reflexes," said the coach. "You've been losing your concentration lately." 

Rukawa nodded calmly, but he cursed mentally. 

It was a Big Deal if the coach made a helpful comment like that, because that meant he was not perfect. And being less than perfect meant not being able to make the starting line-up of the team - the goal that had eluded him since his arrival, and seemed to be out of reach no matter what he did. 

The competition was all good and well, since all the other players vying for acceptance on the starting line-up were just as intense as he was, if not more. Quite a number were strong and silently dedicated – just like Rukawa was – which was a strange change from the atmosphere of Shohoku High and regular highschool basketball, where no matter how intense a game could be, it was still a game. Here, at the All-Japan, basketball was no longer a game. It was _life_. 

As Rukawa and the other players on his team moved into defense mode for the opposing team's attack, his mind started to, against his will, brush off the dust from his collected memories of his days with Shohoku. 

Rukawa didn't like to reminisce. He had barely any memories of childhood, elementary school and junior high, other than the basketball games which he needed to remember in order to learn from. Rukawa had never been down memory lane, nor had he even seen the signboard that would show him how the hell to get there. Yet suddenly the proposition to look for a map seemed quite appealing. 

One of his teammates, a tall muscular guy with a buzz cut got the ball and started dribbling quickly for a fast break. 

As Rukawa ran alongside for the attack, he immediately thought that had this been Shohoku, the player would have shouted, "Fast break!" But not here… Not for the _junior _members, where competition was fierce to become regular members. It wasn't good enough to better than the other team, you had to be better than your own teammates. And that meant playing for yourself, and yourself alone. 

_I want to be number 1!_

After some near-violent but still silky-smooth tapping and steals between various players, Rukawa eventually got his hands on the ball. He immediately jumped and made a fade-away shot that sailed in. 

He landed and waited to see whether the coach would have any comments. Nope. Did that mean his play didn't need criticism or did it mean that his play wasn't worthy of praise? 

A few other players gave him dirty looks before turning away. 

That was another thing about playing with them. You couldn't make friends. Perhaps once on the actual team and with teammates that were secure about their positions it could be possible, but not here when your position (if you had any in the first place) was still uncertain. Survival of the fittest. The weak shall perish and the strong shall survive. (But since when did Rukawa Kaede need friends?) 

_I am one of the strong. I shall move on. I shall be number 1 in Japan._

After a few minutes, Rukawa was removed from the game to let another player have a go. As he sat down on the bench with a towel around his neck, his brain – which under normal circumstances would have just done the whole tape-recorder _number 1 number 1 number 1_ – decided, for some strange reason, that this was the perfect time for reflection. 

Here, basketball was cold. 

_Everything _was so cold, and so impersonal. None of the players gave a rat's ass about each other, unless it was to their own advantage. Even the coach didn't look at them as people – just as players, tokens for a chess game on a basketball court. Choose the strong pieces, stamp on the weak. 

Damn. Welcome to memory lane, Rukawa Kaede. 

Shohoku. They had all cared. _Really_ cared. While basketball had still been just a game, the team had definitely NOT been _just _a team. They were family. A dysfunctional family, yes, but a family all the same. Ayako and Kogure the peacemakers and guardians, Akagi the protective and stern father watchful over his offspring – even the troublesome ones like Ryota, Mitsui and Sakuragi. 

_Oh no, you just had to think about *him*, didn't you?_

Sakuragi Hanamichi… Rukawa had never really understood why Sakuragi had hated him so much. He was vaguely aware that there was a girl involved at some point, but he had never so much as looked at a member of the opposite sex – Ayako didn't count because she was the team manager. But even then, Sakuragi had been a big, number 1 do'aho. 

Rukawa admitted he _had _hated Sakuragi in the beginning. After all, the guy had dumped a rack of basketballs on his head, flung curses every time he opened his mouth, took any chance he could to fight him, continuously messed up in games, made a fuss over the smallest things and constantly distracted him from playing properly. It had been the easiest thing in the world to hate Sakuragi. Oh, okay, so maybe he did become a decent player as time went by, but the rest of Sakuragi's traits remained the same. 

At least, it had been that way until Rukawa had left. He had refused to let his thoughts linger on Sakuragi, and it had worked… to an extent. 

_I wonder how the do'aho – I mean, how Shohoku's doing now…_

***** 

Sakuragi was more successful than Rukawa at this point, because he had successfully shuffled the kitsune into the dusty back portions of his brain, and had not been bothered for nearly a week. Well, at least he thought so. 

"Haruko-san, how was that?" Sakuragi asked. 

Haruko clapped her hands together. "Good dunk, Sakuragi-kun!" she said, nodding. 

Sakuragi's nose went bright red as he grinned from ear to ear. So he had also been right about Haruko's attention being all his, not including the parts where she also has to help the other players on the team, but at least she wasn't going all fangirly anymore because of the lack of Rukawa. Sakuragi was of course very happy with all the attention she was giving him. 

"Pay attention, Hanamichi!" Ryota yelled, snapping his fingers in front of his eyes as he dribbled the ball with the other hand. "Honestly, you are so easily distracted." 

Hanamichi pointed. "Ayako-san's calling you!" 

Ryota turned, cheeks going pink. "Aya-chan?" 

On the bench Ayako sighed. "Baka…" 

"Hahahahahahahaha!" Sakuragi grabbed the ball easily and twirled between his hands. "Talk so much…" He dribbled away. 

But as he did so, he suddenly tripped and fell splat on the floor in a display of perfect clumsiness. He jumped up quickly and set his eyes on _glare_. "What did you say?!" 

Ryota blinked. "Nobody said anything, Hanamichi." 

Sakuragi paused. "Oh." He scratched his head. "Oh." That didn't feel right. He shrugged it off and went to picked up the ball, which he then started bouncing a little unsteadily. 

Haruko called from the bench, "Sakuragi-kun, are you okay?" 

"Huh? Hai, I'm o-kay!" Sakuragi nodded. The ball then twisted from his grip again, and it rolled away. He blinked, then shook his head again. Then he carefully turned to look left and right. The other players had all noticed his clumsiness, but no one had said anything. 

He scowled. Something was _definitely _not right. 

Kakuta picked up the ball. "Sakuragi-san?" 

"What did you say about the tensai?!" Sakuragi roared. 

Kakuta dropped the ball and squeaked, "Nothing." 

Sakuragi scowled again. Ryota came up to him and patted him on the back. "Hanamichi, do you want to take a break? You look tired." 

Tired. Yes, he felt tired. Not physically, because he was always in perfect shape, but mentally - which was quite an achievement for someone who carried out as little mental work as Sakuragi. The sensation was could be pictured as such: imagine having a third arm, it's there, it helps you work but you never really notice it until one day when you want to punch something and you find that it's suddenly gone. 

The tall red-head retreated to the bench where he sat down and tried to figure out what was wrong. 

Haruko sat down next to Sakuragi and peered at him. "Sakuragi-kun, something's wrong, isn't it? Your concentration is a little off." 

Somewhere behind them, Ayako muttered, "Has been since he came back…" 

A small subconscious bit of Sakuragi's brain yelled at him angrily, _No one's called you a do'aho in months!_

But dear 'ol Sakuragi didn't hear it, of course, because at the forefront of his thoughts was the only driving force he had left, and that was the need to impress Haruko. 

He turned to look at her. Her eyes were wide with concern as she gazed up at him – and of course he blushed tremendously in response. 

"Do you want to take a break, Sakuragi-kun?" she asked carefully. 

"Break? No no no, the tensai is in perfect condition!" Sakuragi said quickly. "Hahahaha, thank you for your concern, Haruko-san, but really..." He walked off with the ball to rejoin the rest of the sophomores on the other side of the court. 

Haruko clasped her hands together and turned to Ayako. "Ayako-san, what's wrong with Sakuragi? Is it his back? I thought it was all healed already." 

Ayako looked at Haruko for a long while, the steady look in her eyes just barely revealing the turning of wheels behind them. "It's not his back," she said. 

"Then what is it?" Haruko asked. 

More thinking went on within Ayako's head. After a while she blinked slowly, as though making a decision. Then she raised her paper fan. "Let me ask you a question first. How many times have I whacked Hanamichi with this fan since he came back?" 

Haruko made a surprised sound. "What?" 

"Think. How many times?" 

Haruko frowned as she tried to think. "Well, he's been back for a whole week... And um... I don't remember exactly..." 

"Twice," Ayako told her matter-of-factly. "Once when he was about to beat up Morikawa for successfully blocking his lay up, and once when he pestered Anzai-sensei to give him the Shohoku number 4 jersey." 

Haruko's eyes widened. "Only twice?" 

Ayako nodded. "Isn't that strange, you think?" 

"Well, yes!" Haruko agreed. "I mean, last time Sakuragi-kun was well... I don't remember there had been five minutes that could pass without oniichan punching him or you hitting him with your fan." She smiled as she recollected the memories. "He's such a troublemaker, isn't he?" 

A small smile twitched the edge of Ayako's mouth, but she hid it quickly. "Yes, he is." 

"I mean, it's good that he's not making trouble anymore, but... Why? I mean, why has he suddenly become so... Well..." 

Ayako said helpfully, "Drained?" 

"Yes, that's it, drained," Haruko agreed. "I would have thought that without oniichan around to control him he'd be an even bigger problem than before but..." She looked at Ayako suddenly. "What is it? You know what it is, don't you?" 

Ayako raised a finger. "Wait a moment, Haruko-chan." Calmly, she strolled across the court and brought her fan down on a freshman who had been arguing with Sakuragi about how to dribble properly. Sakuragi started to laugh at him when a thwack of the fan on his own head shut him up. Ayako nodded, pleased with herself, then strolled back to Haruko's side. 

"Okay, so that's three times," Haruko said. "Must be an all-new low record." 

"I'll say," said Ayako. 

"Then what is it? What's wrong with Sakuragi-kun?" 

Ayako sighed. Without saying anything, she turned to watch Sakuragi and a freshman named Nagai do a one-on-one to display the basic techniques of defense. Haruko turned to watch, too. 

Nagai dribbled carefully and jumped to make a lay-up. Sakuragi jumped to defend, the sent his arm down in a typical fly-tap, but Nagai somehow managed to get the ball past him and into the hoop. Sakuragi landed and immediately looked up with a particular fierce scowl – tense and all fired up as if he was waiting for something. 

But Nagai just turned to talk to Ryota. Sakuragi deflated by the lack of attention and knocked his head a few times with his left hand. 

"What do you think, Haruko-chan?" Ayako said finally. 

Haruko shrugged. "I don't know." 

Ayako growled slightly under her breath and turned away, leaving Haruko to blink stupidly after her. 


	4. Looks Like It's Half Empty

**Pay Attention Please**

by Annie D   
the_80s_chick@lycos.com   


CHAPTER 3   
Looks Like It's Half Empty 

  
  
  
  


All right, Rukawa would never admit it to anyone with half a brain cell, but he missed Shohoku. 

Yes, he only missed *Shohoku*, and *not* anyone in particular that happened to be there. Really. He missed the way that the players constantly looked out for each other, how the gym had been a place of warm and fuzzy memories (at this point Rukawa's brain almost short-circuited because of usage of the phrase "warm and fuzzy"), and how despite Rukawa's own selfishness, the other players had respected him. 

Of course, Sakuragi did not fit into any of the above points (the do'aho had never looked out for him, was never included in any of the warm and fuzzy memories, and most certainly did NOT respect him). 

Rukawa scowled at himself. _I thought I said not to think about him again!_

"All right!" the coach announced, clapping his hands above his head. "Practice is over for today! Be back here tomorrow morning for postings!" 

_Postings? So soon? _Rukawa blinked. Some of the other players were looking uncertain, some were smug, some were – like him – surprised at the news which had come out of the blue. 

The coach shooed them all the general locker room, which was psychological ploy of the team: the junior members were not given proper permanent lockers until they made the real team. It was usual for the room to be quiet with only a few members managing to chat it up a bit, but at that particular moment it was eerily silent as everyone contemplated their future. 

Rukawa carefully opened his locker to take out his towel. _Will I make the team? What if I don't? What if…_

He shook his head. No, he had to be optimistic. He would make the team. 

***** 

"Sakuragi, are you okay?" Yohei asked. 

Sakuragi cursed as he rested his forehead on the pavement, which had surely cracked after being hit by his iron-hard head four times in a row. It was really getting on his nerves that everyone was asking him the same thing over and over and over... _Are you okay? Are you all right? What's wrong? Dammit people, the tensai is JUST FINE! Fine fine fine!_

"Maybe he's hungry," Takamiya suggested. 

"No, that's you," said Noma. 

"Oh yeah." 

Yohei kneeled down next to his best friend and peered at him. "Oi, Hanamichi." 

Sakuragi leapt up roaring and headbutted all his friends one by one. "There's nothing wrong with the tensai! Why can't you people just–" 

"Sakuragi-kun?" 

"Uh - Haruko-san!" Sakuragi discarded his fiersome pose for a more relaxed, silly little boy one. "What are you doing here?" 

"I'm walking home, of course," Haruko said, smiling. Then her expression took a more concerned one. "Actually, I was a little worried about you." 

Tears flooded Sakuragi's eyes. _She's worried about me..._

"Can we just talk in private for a bit?" Haruko asked. 

Sakuragi nodded eagerly, jumping over his fallen comrades. "Hai! Of course, Haruko-san." 

Yohei waved weakly from his spot on the pavement. "Take your time, Hanamichi..." 

Which was exactly what Sakuragi intended to do. He and Haruko walked a bit away from the rest of the gundam into the shady lee of a large elm, where they were able to talk privately. "So what is it, Haruko-san?" 

All of a sudden her tiny hands darted out to grip the edges of his jacket. "What's wrong, Sakuragi-kun? Please tell me! When you first came back I was so happy, not only because of the team, but because you're my friend! But then... this past week, I can see that something's wrong with you. It's like the way you play... There's no more spirit there!" 

Sakuragi gaped in bewilderment at her. "Huh?" 

She let go of his jacket and sighed. "When you first joined the team, I remember that although you didn't like the game much at first, you still wanted to play, and so badly! You kept pushing yourself despite what everyone said about you, and I respected you so much for that! But now, something's different. It's like... It's like... Oh, I don't know what it's like..." She sighed. 

Sakuragi stared at her. "Haruko-san..." 

"I care for you, Sakuragi-kun," she said clearly, looking at him straight in the eye. "Tell me. Whatever it is, tell me." 

"Tell you what?" 

Haruko took a deep breath. "Why do you play basketball, Sakuragi-kun?" 

On one side, Sakuragi's brain was on the verge of a total happy meltdown due to Haruko's unexpected outburst – _she cares for me! _– but on the other side was the rumbling workings of a total panic attack in response to her question. 

"Uh..." 

"Why? Tell me why." Her voice meant business. "Anything it is, tell me..." 

Anything? That certainly made him feel better, although not by much. Sakuragi stared at the pavement as his breath started to itch somewhere in his lungs. Something at the back of his head was screaming frantically at him – although what it was saying, he couldn't really hear at the moment. 

This was _it_. Sakuragi scrunched his eyes shut. "Haruko-san, I like you!" 

Munchkins munchkins little dancing toadstools jump jump flying around little clouds lots of chocolate and smiley sun faces... Think of _anything _to numb the disappointment that would inevitably follow… 

"Sakuragi-kun?" Haruko said softly – her voice was surprised, but strangely controlled. 

Slowly, Sakuragi opened his eyes, terrified at what he would see. Was she angry? Sad? Disgusted? Disappointed? He peered at her timidly. 

"Sakuragi-kun..." Haruko said again. "You..." 

Sakuragi's eyes slammed shut again. _Don't make me say it again, Haruko-san!_

Then he felt the soft touch of her hand on his arm. He opened his eyes again to see her smiling at him. For a brief half second he felt like he was flying because of the fact that she was smiling, but then his brain finally registered _how _she was smiling. It was sadly. 

"Sakuragi-kun..." 

He backed away, staring intensely at the pavement as he raised a shaking finger. "Don't say it, Haruko-san. Don't say it. I... I know you only look at me as a friend or brother and I..." He laughed weakly. "I know that... I... I-I don't why I said it... I just needed to tell you." 

"Sakuragi-kun. Look at me, please." 

He complied. 

"I must say... This is a bit of a surprise to me," she said, scratching the back of her neck nervously. "I never want to hurt you, ever..." 

Sakuragi looked at her, this time just to look. He cocked his head this way and that, waiting for that moment when the disappointment and humiliation would slam into him with the expected shockwave. He blinked a few times. It didn't seem like it would be arriving any moment soon. 

Tenderness, check. Protectiveness, check. Disappointment level… 0.00 

_What the hell?_

"Actually," he said, "it doesn't feel as bad as I thought it would. I feel... lighter. Like a burden's off my shoulders or something." 

Haruko smiled. "I know you care about me, Sakuragi-kun. But I also know that I'm the first girl to care about you, too." 

Sakuragi nodded slowly. 

"Can it be possible," Haruko said slowly, "that you don't like me in _that _way? I mean, I don't mean to be rude but, most other girls are just scared of you, isn't it?" 

Sakuragi twitched a nod. "Yeah." 

Haruko looked at him steadily. "What do you want from me? Really." 

Sakuragi spoke without thinking. "I want you to smile at me." 

"I _am _smiling at you, Sakuragi-kun." 

He blinked again, and a smile of his own moved across his face. "So you are." 

"Did you really want me to be your girlfriend?" 

"Gak!" He stared at her. "I never thought about that, Haruko-san!" Haruko his girlfriend? He had liked her a great deal, yes; he wanted her attention, yes; but _girlfriend_? He scratched his head. "I guess... Well, you're right. All the girls I've ever known are either scared of me or disgusted by me. You were the first to actually..." 

"Care about you?" 

"Yes." 

"And I _do _care about you, Sakuragi-kun. You're one of my best friends, and you mean a great deal to me," Haruko said. 

Sakuragi looked at her. "You're right. I care for you. I want to protect you. This isn't like those other girls I liked before… It's like…" 

"Like being a big brother, isn't it?" Haruko asked, grinning. 

Sakuragi's eyes widened as his mouth dropped open. "Yes! Exactly! I do care for you, Haruko-san, I really do. I think… I think that I *did* like you in that way once but now it's like… like…" 

Haruko giggled. "I'm glad we got that cleared up. Aren't you glad that's off your chest?" 

"Yes, I am actually." 

Haruko gave Sakuragi a brief hug before pulling away and saying, "But you didn't answer my question. Why do you play?" 

"I told you," Sakuragi said, frowning. 

"No," Haruko said softly, shaking her head. "Maybe you _joined _the team for me, but that's not why you play. I know you play for love of the game, and for the whole of last year that seemed to be enough for you – just look at the discipline you put on yourself, especially on those last few games at the end of the last season!" 

Sakuragi scratched his head with embarrassment, unsure what to say. 

Haruko then continued, "So why is it different now? Why can't you push yourself anymore?" 

The tall red-head shrugged. "I don't know." 

Haruko patted him on the arm again. "I hope you find out soon, Sakuragi-kun. Actually, I think I ought to call you Hanamichi-kun, my second oniichan. Can I?" 

Sakuragi laughed. "Hai! No harm will come to my Haruko-chan when the King Kong otouto is around!" 

***** 

Rukawa dropped the ball. 

Frowning slightly, he picked it up. For no apparent reason, a strange little something had suddenly shivered up his spine. It was a strange sensation, like a door somewhere had been opened to him, although he couldn't pinpoint where it would lead to, or even where the door was in the first place. 

"Losing your grip, Rukawa?" another player taunted. 

Rukawa ignored him as he rolled the ball between his hands. He, like some of the other newcomers of the junior clique, were waiting outside the gym that the All-Japan used for the postings to be put up on the billboard. 

No one was worth his time here. Useless saps, all of them. Kept to themselves, played for themselves, never bothered with anyone else. 

_Just like how I used to be._

That revelation had been a shocker enough in itself to Rukawa, who had considered his selfishness a strength. But now, as he watched the other players all around him do their solo gig, he found that it was a terrible, terrible weakness. He felt pity for them, and wondered whether any of them had ever had the chance to play with a _real team_, like he had. 

_But I left them._

Rukawa sighed. He wasn't going to dwell on that. He had left Shohoku. They knew he would, he knew he would, and he was here, at the All-Japan. 

Sakuragi had taunted him so often for being selfish. It was mainly jealousy, as anyone could see. Even at their last meeting on the beach when he had shown Sakuragi his All-Japan jersey, the jealousy-driven anger had been crystal clear in his brown eyes. 

Sakuragi could be jealous of him all he liked, because he didn't care. Nope. 

Still... It had been quite... _Refreshing _to have someone look at him that way. Well, many others had been jealous of his talent (although he couldn't be bothered to recall any at the moment), but Sakuragi had been... different. 

_No! _No, he hadn't been different. He was the same as everyone else. Sakuragi was no different from anyone else he'd ever met. 

Well, except, of course, that Sakuragi had somehow managed to get his attention. 

_No! He hadn't!_

Or that Sakuragi had the fire for life that Rukawa had never seen before. Or that Sakuragi always felt the same way he did about difficult situations, even if they expressed their feelings differently. Or that Sakuragi damn well pissed him off just by standing in the same room. 

_I won't think about him. I won't. I've got better things to think about. Why am I even arguing with myself about this? Stupid do'aho._

He sighed. 

_Basketball basketball basketball... Number 1 number 1 number 1... Be the best be the best be the best..._

"Postings are up!" 

***** 

"Oyaji, why are you taking the tensai out of the game?!" Sakuragi shouted, tugging repeatedly at Anzai-sensei's chin. 

Ayako's fan landed smartly on his head. "Because you keep messing up, that's why!" 

"Just sit down for now, Sakuragi-kun," Haruko said, quickly jumping to the rescue. "Come on, just sit down." 

Sakuragi grudgingly obeyed, although it did not help his temper much. For a few seconds he watched the practice game between the seniors and juniors of the Shohoku team, eventually lowering his eyes down to look at his hands. 

_What's wrong with the tensai? _he wondered. He had messed up no less than 5 lay-ups, 3 blocks, 2 dunks and 4 passes within the first 14 minutes of the game. He was more angry at himself than anyone else on the court, because there wasn't anyone else to blame on his lack of performance other than himself. And it angered him even more than he couldn't figure out *why*. 

Something was wrong. Not only with him, but also with the atmosphere, and the team. It had started out small, but now, two weeks later, it was steadily rising in intensity. Sakuragi scratched his head in frustration as he forced his brain to go outward and figure out what the hell it was. In all appearances everything was perfect. Wasn't it? _Wasn't it?_

Ayako sat down next to him and patted him on the shoulder. 

He squinted at her. "Aren't you going to ask me what's wrong? That's what everyone's doing these days." He cursed. 

Ayako shook her head. "I'm not going to ask." As Sakuragi nodded gratefully, Ayako added quietly (so he wouldn't hear), "Because I already know." She tapped her fan thoughtfully against her chin. 

Sakuragi remained seated through the first half, and had had wait until 5 minutes into the second half before Anzai-sensei turned to him. "Sakuragi-kun. Get ready, I'm putting you back in." 

_Finally. _Sakuragi leapt to his feet. "Hai!" 

As Sakuragi was about to re-enter the court, Ayako leaned forward and whispered something only he could hear that made his eyes widen dramatically. His face reddened angrily and he stomped onto court – causing all the other players to sweatdrop in surprise at the sudden change in him. 

"The tensai is back!" he roared. "Now let's play!" 

Aaah, now *this* was the Sakuragi that had made himself famous the previous year despite being not only a freshman, but also a newcomer to the game. He made quite a number of the players gawk at his abilities, Ryota was surprised but pleased that he had finally gotten his momentum in check, Haruko squealed happily, Anzai-sensei nodded, and Ayako smirked to herself. 

A little while more into the game after various amazing plays by the rebound-o king, Haruko sidled up to Ayako. 

"What did you say to him?" Haruko asked. 

Ayako shrugged innocently. 

"Come on, Ayako-chan, you can tell me!" 

Ayako grinned, then leaned inward to whisper something to Haruko, whose own eyes widened. She looked at her, then at Sakuragi, then clapped. "Very good, Ayako-chan! Hey, yeah, that does explain it... Yeah, wonder why I didn't think about that before." 

Ayako rolled her eyes. 

You see, the reason Sakuragi hadn't been performing was because there was no one to push him. Sakuragi hadn't been aware that although he played well to impress Haruko, the other (much stronger) driving factor had been the need to beat Rukawa. Without the super rookie, there was no one to fight him, there was no one to push him to play tougher, and there was no one to work on his temper – because for Sakuragi, his temper was directly linked to his desire to play well. And the new members as well as the older members like Yasuda and Shiozaki were basically _nice _and generally stayed out of his way. 

So what Ayako had told him, of course, had been, "I'm sure Rukawa would have played better than that, don't you think?" 

A more romantic way of looking at it: that was Sakuragi's way of missing Rukawa. 

And it was evident that the super rookie was on Sakuragi's thoughts as he played well, because each time the red-head managed to do something successful, he'd smile triumphantly at no one in particular. 

The team manager clasped her hands behind her back, pleased with herself. But her happy thoughts were brought crashing down when she heard Haruko scream beside her. She turned and her own mouth dropped open in horror as Anzai-sensei fell off the bench. 

"It's Anzai-sensei! He's having a heart attack!" 


	5. Same Old Same Old

**Pay Attention Please**

by Annie D   
the_80s_chick@lycos.com   


CHAPTER 4   
Same Old, Same Old 

  
  


It was unnaturally quiet in the Shohoku gym. Various players scattered the area, either sitting on the floor or standing up while staring off into nothing, or in the case of Captain Ryota, pacing back and forth with hands clasped tightly behind his back. Although all were in their sports attire, no one was anywhere near a basketball. 

Sakuragi himself was standing alone by the double doors of the gym, every now and then taking a peek out to see if anyone was coming. 

"Where are they?" he asked impatiently. 

"Be patient, Hanamichi-kun," said Ayako. "They'll be here." 

The 'they' in question were Haruko and Anzai-sensei. You see, Anzai-sensei had the heart attack, then had been immediately sent to the hospital where he had been for the past few days. The entire Shohoku team had agreed unanimously not to practice until their coach was back. On some levels not a particularly smart thing to do since their first game of the IH eliminations were close by, but after they had all witnessed first-hand the horrible sight of Anzai-sensei gasping in pain, nobody had the mood to play as long as they felt that their coach was less than well. 

"I wish I could've gone with Haruko-chan to pick him up," said Sakuragi. "I don't know _why _he asked us to meet him here." 

"Probably because he's afraid of the ruckus you guys'd make at the hospital," said Ayako, trying to lighten things up a bit. 

Sakuragi stuffed his hands into his shorts as he stomped around the door a bit. How long more did they have to wait? 

And Sakuragi felt a _tingle_, like a soft flick at the bottom of his spine. 

Just as he was about to turn to look at the door, he felt the hard contact between somebody else's foot and his butt, and before he could yelp he found himself flying outward, and landed with a smart splat on the court floor. 

He scrambled to his feet, turned and went through: confusion – anger – recognition – shock. 

"Kitsune!" Sakuragi screeched, pointing at the figure in the doorway as though it were some demon from the depths of hell. What it really was, of course, was Rukawa Kaede, dressed in civilian clothes and with a bag slung casually over a shoulder. 

Ayako and Ryota gaped, then ran to him. "Rukawa-kun, what are you doing here?" 

"Kitsune!" Sakuragi screamed again, his voice going shrill. 

"Is Anzai-sensei all right?" Rukawa asked the captain. 

"Kitsune!" 

"Haruko-san went to pick him up," said Ryota. "He said he wanted to meet us all here, and so here we are." 

"Kitsune!" 

Rukawa frowned briefly. "Hm." 

"Kitsune!" 

And Rukawa *finally* turned to look at Sakuragi, whose mouth was still opening and closing jerkily, and still had one shaking finger pointing at him. His eyes were bulging, his face slightly pale in shock, and he blinked stiffly a few times, as though the action would cause the image of Rukawa to disappear like the bad dream he thought it was. 

Rukawa dropped his bag. _Ding ding – rematch!_

"Do'aho." 

All innocent bystanders held their collective breaths. 

Nobody present could be sure who made the first move, because suddenly they both launched at each other (and in Sakuragi's case accompanied by a manic war cry), fists all a-flying, and the dust picked up around them as an honest-to-goodness Rukawa-Sakuragi fight went underway. 

Ryota sighed, the rest of the players sweatdropped and Ayako covered her mouth with her hands to muffle her frantic giggling. 

Another sound caught everyone's attention, a feat only manageable if it were louder than Sakuragi's curses, and this one happened to be exactly that. It was a mighty bellow, which was followed by two fists charging downward onto Sakuragi's and Rukawa's heads with simultaneous and painful precision. 

Sakuragi cursed, Rukawa cringed, and the both of them looked up to see the looming figure of Akagi Takenori standing over them. 

"Still cannot keep out of trouble?" Akagi demanded, crossing his arms across his chest. 

Haruko peeked out from round the large bulk of her brother. She gasped when she saw Rukawa. "Rukawa-kun!" 

Rukawa ignored her, too, as he jumped to his feet to bow at the last of the new arrivals. "Sensei." 

"Ho ho ho..." Anzai-sensei waved at him from the doorway. "Rukawa-kun, how nice of you to visit." 

"Sensei!" All the players rushed to greet their coach. 

"Oyaji!" Sakuragi exclaimed, relieved that the old man looked all right. He started to walk toward to join the greeting party when he froze in mid-step and slowly turned to look at Akagi. "Gori? What are you doing here?" 

"Ah, that's what I came to tell all of you," said Anzai-sensei, getting everyone's attention. "The doctor said that I'm still quite all right, but I need to get a lot of rest and cannot be your coach for a few months." 

"Then…?" Ryota trailed off. 

Akagi spoke up. "I'm taking over part-time." 

Sweatdrops from the freshmen that had never seen a scarier sight than Akagi Takenori, and more sweatdrops from the sophomores and seniors who _knew _that there was no scarier sight than Akagi Takenori. 

"Gori's back!" Sakuragi said. Suddenly he remembered something ,and turned his face to Rukawa, taking the time to fix upon it a nasty scowl. "And you…" 

Rukawa shrugged. 

"So, Rukawa-kun, to what do I owe this visit?" Anzai-sensei asked him. 

"I wish to talk, sensei," Rukawa said softly. 

"Ho ho ho... Is it about your new team?" he asked. 

Rukawa nodded. 

"Very well," said Anzai-sensei. "Follow me, let's go for a walk." 

And so the white-haired coach turned to leave, and Rukawa quickly followed him. 

"Oi oi oi, he can't do that!" Sakuragi protested. "Anzai-sensei's _our _coach, he doesn't have to talk to Rukawa about anything, and Anzai-sensei came to see us, and what's he — itai!" He rubbed his head at the spot where Akagi's fist had connected with it again. 

Akagi raised a hand to point at a little vein that had appeared above his eyebrow. "See this? This vein hasn't given me any trouble since I graduated, but two minutes back here and it's already pounding." 

"Oh," said Sakuragi, nodding, but he turned quickly. "But the kitsune—" 

"START YOUR PRACTICE!" Akagi roared. 

"Hai!" Even though they weren't the direct recipients of the order, all the players quickly rushed off. 

Ryota grinned and saluted Akagi. "Nice to have you back, Akagi." 

"Hmph," Akagi snorted. "I don't know how you managed to control that baka on your own." 

"It's funny, but he hasn't really been that much trouble," said Ryota, before turning to look out the door where the two had exited. "You know, I wonder what Rukawa came back to talk to the sensei about." 

***** 

So _talk _wasn't really the best word to describe it. They had walked a bit around the outside of the gym in the Shohoku grounds, ignoring the various students that stopped to point at the tall basketball player. Rukawa knew that Anzai-sensei was very good when it came to reading players, and since he wasn't really sure what he wanted to talk about, he just followed on quietly. 

Finally Anzai-sensei spoke. "Did you make the team, Rukawa-kun?" 

Rukawa nodded. When he'd seen the posting he'd been relieved. Well, mostly relieved. 

"Doesn't that make you happy? Isn't that what you want?" Anzai-sensei asked. "You've always wanted to be the best, Rukawa-kun, this is your chance. Why the hesitation?" 

Rukawa sighed. "I don't know, sensei." 

Anzai-sensei stopped walking and sat down on a bench. Rukawa stood nearby, hands shoved in pockets uncertainly. What _did _he want to talk about, anyway? He hoped Anzai-sensei knew better about that than he did. 

"It's very competitive out there, Rukawa-kun," said Anzai-sensei, "as I'm sure you have noticed. But once on the real team, things will be better. Ho ho ho… It's nice to see you've finally realised the importance of being a team." 

Rukawa nodded. 

Anzai-sensei adjusted his spectacles. "So why did you really come back here?" 

Rukawa started in surprise. "Sensei?" 

"You are a very proud person, Rukawa-kun," said Anzai-sensei. "I'm sure visiting an old man who's just recovered from a heart attack was a good excuse to come back, don't you think? Ho ho ho. Shohoku has a charm of its own, isn't it?" 

Rukawa paused, then slowly nodded. 

Anzai-sensei held his gaze a for while longer. "I'll go say goodbye to the team, then I have to be heading home for the rest I need. I suppose you'll be staying to watch them practice?" 

First reaction: _No I won't. _Second reaction: _Oh well, no harm, right, just watching. It's still basketball, after all. Maybe I'll learn something. And Akagi's back, maybe he can give me some pointers. Yeah, that's it. It's not like I'm here to see anyone in particular. Oh wait, I did come to see Anzai-sensei. But that's it. Yes._

He nodded. 

"Ah." Anzai-sensei stood up, patted him on the shoulder, then slowly walked off. 

***** 

"That was so nice of Rukawa-kun to come visit Anzai-sensei!" Haruko told Ayako at the bench. 

Sakuragi glowered. Although it wasn't the same sort of jealousy as he had already gotten the Haruko crush out of his system, he was still angry. _How just like the kitsune to stoop so low. Hah! As if he really came back to visit the oyaji. I bet he's here to gloat about the stupid All-Japan team. It's not like he really ever cared about Shohoku._

"Hanamichi, pay attention!" Ryota shouted. 

"Huh? Oh…" He ran off to join in the warm-up jog. _Stupid kitsune… If only I could show him how the tensai has improved after recovering from such an injury… I bet he thinks he's so good and high and mighty because he abandoned the team._

"Baka, pay attention!" Akagi shouted, thumping the back of his head. "We're practising passing now!" 

"Okay!" _Who does he think he is, wanting to talk to Anzai-sensei like that? He has nothing to do with Shohoku, the oyaji's wisdom belongs to us, and he's only just recovered from the heart attack he can't strain himself anymore, and how just like the kitsune to be so insensitive…_

THWACK! Sakuragi looked up to see Ayako's steaming paper fan retreat. 

"For heaven's sake, Hanamichi!" Ayako exclaimed. 

"Huh?" Sakuragi looked down to see that he had grabbed a freshman's head, thinking it was a ball. He quickly released the poor guy and scratched his (own) head. "Sorry, I wasn't—" 

"Paying attention, I know," sighed Ayako. "Can you at least try to differentiate between a basketball and your teammate's head? I wouldn't want to see you try to dunk." 

"Err herr… gomen," Sakuragi said sheepishly. 

Akagi pressed his fingers against his forehead. 

"What is it, oniichan?" Haruko asked him. 

"I'm trying to remember why I agreed to be Anzai-sensei's part-time stand-in," he mumbled. 

"H-hahahaha, gori, don't need to worry!" Sakuragi said quickly, patting Akagi on the back. "You shall see how the tensai has improved since you left…" 

Akagi looked at him. "Right." 

Abovehead, alone on the audience platform since most of the regular audience knew that the Shohoku team had been taking a 'break', Rukawa watched the practice. He wasn't hiding, because he just _happened _to be sitting in a place that was not visible to the players on the court. Nope, not hiding. 

He sighed as he watched Akagi give Sakuragi another scolding. Seemed the do'aho really hadn't changed. But at least his back wasn't giving him any problem. (Not that he cared, of course.) 

"Oi," came a soft voice from behind him. 

He turned to see Ayako approach him, crouching low so she also wouldn't be seen by the people on court. "Rukawa-kun, why are you—" he was about to snap quickly that he _wasn't hiding dammit_, but what Ayako really said was, "—sitting on this side? The view is better over there." 

Rukawa shrugged, trying to make it clear it didn't make a difference where he sat because it wasn't like he wanted a better view… But oh _well_, since Ayako had gone through all the trouble to climb up to tell him, it would be a waste if he didn't act on her help, so he shifted down. Ayako was still following him, though. 

"You know it's strange, Hanamichi hasn't been like this since school started," Ayako said, her voice strangely jovial. "He hasn't made any trouble… well, very _little _trouble, when he rejoined the team, and now look – Akagi has to keep banging him on the head every few minutes again." She chuckled softly. "Maybe it's the company." 

Rukawa looked at her in surprise. 

"Akagi-sempai does have that effect on people," Ayako added innocently. 

Rukawa turned his attention back to the court. 

"Ah well, it's nice to see you again, Rukawa-kun," Ayako said, smiling brightly at him. She was about to leave when she added, "By the way, it's Sakuragi's turn to clean up the gym today. Oh, sorry, I don't know where _that _came from, because I know you don't care about that sort of thing. Ah well, ja ne." 

Rukawa shrugged as he heard her leave the audience platform to return to her place on the bench. 

Sakuragi made a dunk, then laughed proudly, hands on hips. The sound, which had not reached Rukawa's ears for months, felt oddly comforting. 

Rukawa sighed. The do'aho really hadn't changed at all. He knew that technically it had been only a few months since they had last seen each other, but it felt much longer. Even after the injury in his back, Sakuragi's fire hadn't died. If anything it was only burning much brighter. The indomitable Sakuragi Hanamichi, supposed basketball tensai, always living life to the fullest, not caring what anyone thought about him, and playing for the love of the game. He was everything that the All-Japan hadn't been able to offer. 

Not that it made any difference to Rukawa, of course. 


	6. Sometimes a Helpful Nudge

**Pay Attention Please**

by Annie D   
the_80s_chick@lycos.com   
  


CHAPTER 5   
Sometimes a Helpful Nudge 

  


After practice. Shohoku gym. Sakuragi was alone, doing the last of his clean-up duties. 

"Eleven… twelve… thir-thirteen… fourteen… err…" Sakuragi looked at his fingers. "Fourteen… Um…" He checked the list. There were supposed to be twenty-two balls in the rack. "K'so." Sigh. Might as well start from the beginning, he figured. "One… Two… Three… Four…" 

The door slid open behind him. 

"I'm almost finished!" Sakuragi yelled, still peering at the clipboard. "There's still fifteen minutes until closing!" 

He felt somebody move past him, and he half-turned, fully expecting to see the janitor, but instead saw Rukawa standing there, peering closely at the rack. 

"There's twenty-one," Rukawa said. 

"Nobody asked for your help," Sakuragi snapped. "One… Two… Three…" 

"Twenty-one." 

Sakuragi scowled as he focused on the orange balls. "One… Two…" 

"Twenty-one." 

Sakuragi threw the clipboard, and it bounced off Rukawa's head. There was a clatter as it hit the floor. 

Rukawa slowly bent down, picked up the clipboard and threw it back. Sakuragi scrambled with it for a moment before getting a proper grip on it. When he did, he looked up to see Rukawa walking round the gym. 

"Oi, what are you doing?" Sakuragi demanded. "You're not supposed to be here, Rukawa! This isn't your place anymore!" 

Rukawa ignored him, instead going behind the bench to pick up the last ball. Then the dark-haired boy walked back to Sakuragi and tossed the ball at him. "Twenty-two." 

Although his body was starting to shake from anger, Sakuragi showed remarkable restraint by slowly putting the ball into the rack and checking the final item on the list. Then he carefully put the checklist on top of the arrangement of balls, and finally raised his fists up into the classic fighting pose. 

"Give me your best shot," Sakuragi said. "Come on! What, you think the tensai is scared of you just because you think you're hot stuff? Hmm?" 

Rukawa looked at him, then shrugged. "No difference. You're still a do'aho." 

Sakuragi screeched as he launched himself at the other boy. 

Even physiological body gremlins have a sense of romanticism. Although Sakuragi's back had been giving him absolutely no problem whatsoever since he had been released from the hospital, they decided that right *now* would be the perfect time to act up – like, hey, when the timing's good, why waste it, eh? 

And so he fell. 

No, not right into Rukawa's arms because even those body gremlins had only so much control on the falling trajectory of the body. But they weren't about to give up like that, so they sent out an immediate telegram to Rukawa's subconscious: "Oi, catch him you idiot!" and so even before the other boy was able to compute the fact that Sakuragi was falling, he found his body had stepped forward quickly. 

Rukawa hooked his arms under Sakuragi's, and carefully dropped onto his knees as the read-head's body became an almost dead-weight in his arms. 

Sakuragi scowled fiercely. He didn't seem to realise (being more focused on the pain in his back) that he was half-resting against Rukawa's chest as the kitsune's arms wrapped themselves around his back. 

"I thought your back was better," Rukawa said. 

Sakuragi started at the sound of Rukawa's voice, just noticing how he was practically sprawled all on top of him. He struggled to move away, but the back pain shot up again. (Back gremlins: "Haha, you think we're gonna let you go that easy? Nu-uh!") Sakuragi cursed. "Itai." 

"What do I do?" Rukawa asked. "Should I get help?" 

Sakuragi's scowl intensified. "Itai." 

Rukawa clutched at Sakuragi, starting to worry. It was one thing if Sakuragi went all flying into curses and meaningless angry shouts, but another if he just said a single word at a low volume. "What should I do?" 

Sakuragi cringed. "Itai." 

Rukawa started to pull his arm away from Sakuragi's back to reach for his phone, but Sakuragi winced again. 

"Itai." 

So Rukawa slid his free hand back around Sakuragi's and touched his spine gently. "Where?" He ran his fingers up and down slowly. "Where?" 

When Rukawa's fingers touched one particular spot, Sakuragi let out a painful shriek. "Itai." He blinked rapidly. "Itai." 

_What do I do?_ Rukawa thought frantically as he felt Sakuragi's fingers clutch at his arms. He looked around, but there was still not a single person in sight, even through the open doors. _What do I do?!_

"Itai." The word was much softer now, and his face was twitching into what was obviously pain. Tears tinged his eyes. 

Rukawa swallowed, the feeling of total helplessness making him want to scream. The sight of Sakuragi – mister invincible – in pain had to be *the* most wrong thing in the universe. _How can I help you? How can I make the pain go away? How can I help you?!_

Slowly, Sakuragi's head tilted forward, and his forehead rested gently against Rukawa's chest. For a moment Rukawa thought he had passed out, but then he heard a soft sob, almost inaudible. It was a sound, Rukawa thought, that should never _ever_ be associated with Sakuragi Hanamichi. 

Instinctively, Rukawa stroked his right hand up and down Sakuragi's back in a comforting gesture, taking care to avoid the spot that was causing him pain. 

Footsteps finally made Rukawa look up. In the double doorways of the gym stood Haruko. Her eyes widened as she took in the sight, and she ran toward them. "Rukawa-kun? What happened?" 

"His back," Rukawa said. He felt strangely proud that his voice didn't crack. 

Haruko looked at Sakuragi, who had mercifully gone silent, then back at Rukawa. Something flickered in her eyes – something he couldn't quite recognise but it definitely didn't involve frantic blushing – before she stood up again. "I'll get help." And she ran off. 

The gym was silent for another long while before another soft sob escaped from Sakuragi. 

Feeling surprisingly protective, Rukawa leaned forward to rest his cheek against Sakuragi's bright red hair – _it's grown a bit since we last saw each other_, he thought in a daze. The wrap of his arms around Sakuragi's back quickly dissolved into what was unmistakably a hug, and Rukawa shut his eyes, cursing the whole fucking world for letting the do'aho suffer like this. 

***** 

The pain was receding. Sakuragi managed to force his eyelids to open ever so slightly, and for a moment thought that he had gone blind. But then his brain cleared up a bit and he finally registered that the dark he was looking into wasn't the black of blindness, but the colour of black cotton cloth. 

He felt incredibly comfortable, and moving didn't seem necessary at the moment. The sensation was akin to hiding under a warm comforter on a cold rainy day – he just felt like snuggling down and never getting up. He sighed. 

It was just then that he noticed the soft rhythmic sound. In pairs, spaced out regularly. Sounded familiar… like a… heartbeat. Was it his? Wait, his black cotton pillow was moving, too. Inward and outward, like the heaving of a chest. 

Slowly, Sakuragi lifted his head, and found himself looking into Rukawa's face. 

Oh. 

Sakuragi shut his eyes, then snuggled back into his cotton pillow. That's nice. His pillow was Rukawa. 

Wait a minute. 

Frowning, and forcing his eyes to open a little more, he tilted his head back up to scrutinise the vision of Rukawa. He was looking down at him. Those thin blue eyes dipped in concern. The other senses – mostly touch – finally picked up: Rukawa's arms were around him. A hand was stroking his back. 

Had to be a nightmare. And a very nasty one, too. 

"Are you okay?" Rukawa asked. 

The senses said: sounds real, innit? Looks real… Smells real… Feels real… 

Sakuragi finally woke up with an earth-shattering scream. "What are you doing, kitsune?!" He started to pull away, just to have his back shriek in protest, and causing him to fall back into the circle of Rukawa's arms. 

"Don't move. Your back," said Rukawa. 

Sakuragi clenched his teeth as he reluctantly let Rukawa adjust his hold around him. The motion inevitably brought Sakuragi's face back against Rukawa's chest – a position he most certainly _did not _want to be in. He made his anger known by cursing, although the effect was spoiled as his voice was slightly muffled. 

"Shut up," Rukawa said. "Help is coming." 

"Better be," Sakuragi snapped. _Ugh… I don't *believe_* this… He tried to pull into himself so that there would be as little contact between their two bodies as possible, but his back seemed to decide that it would only not give him any trouble if he remained in Rukawa's arms. (Nyahaha…) 

"Don't move!" Rukawa said, this time his voice unmistakably stern. 

"What do you care, kitsune?!" Sakuragi said. 

And Rukawa fell silent. The response made Sakuragi start in surprise, and for a moment he thought that he had hurt the kitsune's feelings, but that couldn't be right because the kitsune had no feelings. Right? Right. 

Sakuragi scowled, and he focused all his brain power into one thought: _Stupid kitsune._

Then Rukawa spoke. "Does your back still hurt?" 

Sakuragi was about to say that it was none of his business, but then his ears registered actually _worry_ in Rukawa's voice. "No. Only when I move." 

They fell silent. 

_Why does Rukawa care, anyway? _Then Sakuragi's treacherous mind started to go down that path despite his own protests. The way Rukawa had spoken ("Don't move!"), had that been actual concern in it his voice? Even the way his hand had stroked his back. And Rukawa could have just let him fall on the ground, or let him go, but – but… 

Sakuragi shivered. 

"What's wrong?" Rukawa asked quickly. "Cold?" 

"No!" Sakuragi said quickly. _K'so… _He would _not _think about the kitsune being able to worry about anyone else, he would _not _think about the kitsune having the sense of mind to catch him when the fall could have seriously injured his back, he would _not _think about the kitsune having not raised a single complaint about the current situation, and he would _most definitely not _think about the kitsune being a nice pillow. 

_K'so. K'so. K'so._

"There! Hurry!" It was Haruko's voice. 

"Haruko-chan!" Sakuragi called, and cursed how awkward things must look to her. He tried to lift his head but couldn't quite manage it. 

He felt a small hand touch his shoulder. "I'm here, Hanamichi-kun. Don't worry, help's here." She was silent for a moment. "Thank you, Rukawa-kun." 

Sakuragi felt other hands touch his back, and an unfamiliar voice asked about the back injury and where it was hurting. He answered as well as he could, then felt himself slowly being lifted off from Rukawa in order to rest on a stretcher. 

He would _not _think about how much nicer it had been in Rukawa's arms. 

Sakuragi let out a groan of pain, eyes clamped shut. He felt Haruko's hand squeeze his own. "I'm here, Hanamichi-kun." 

He felt the stretcher being lifted, and carefully opened his eyes. 

Rukawa was standing in the middle of the court, watching him leave. And his face, it was… Sakuragi gasped, but before he could properly identify the look on Rukawa's face, he was shuffled out of the gym. 

***** 

Rukawa watched silently as Sakuragi was lifted away. Then he looked his shirt, which was still extra warm from the shared body heat. 

The skin of his chest was still tingling from where Sakuragi's nose had nuzzled it. Now that he thought about, it every single part of his body that had been in contact with Sakuragi was tingling – his arms, his chest, his cheek... 

He recalled the way the pounding of his heart had increased in tempo when Sakuragi had snuggled into his arms, along with the uncharacteristic hitching of breath. In that instant, when Sakuragi had looked at him like a little lost puppy, Rukawa would have gladly died a happy man. 

It had been wonderful. Rukawa hugged himself, forcing his senses to relive every single precise detail of that moment. Along with it came recollections of concern, protectiveness and how he damn well wanted to hold Sakuragi in his arms and fight off every single bad thing in the world that could hurt him. Nothing else in the world mattered but that. 

All of it added up to... All of the emotions... Didn't it mean he... 

Rukawa blinked. "Oh." 


	7. Just Telling It Like It Is

  
**Pay Attention Please**

by Annie D   
the_80s_chick@lycos.com   
  


CHAPTER 6   
Just Telling It Like It Is 

  
  


Sakuragi was scandalised. 

He was also lying on his back staring at the ceiling of the hospital ward as the doctor chattered on and on, and was also the recipient of Haruko, Ayako, Akagi and Ryota's concern as they hovered around the small curtain-secluded area. But mostly Sakuragi was busy being scandalised. 

"Hanamichi, are you listening?" Haruko asked. 

Blink blink. "Hm?" 

"The doctor said the physiotherapist will be here in an hour or two," said Haruko. "You just need to lie still and wait for him." 

"Oh. Okay." He continued to stare at the ceiling. 

Somewhere in the background their voices continued to drift over him, Akagi asking how serious the injury was and whether he would need a back brace, the doctor replying that things were still uncertain, Haruko gasping every now and then in horror and concern, Ayako trying to comfort her, Ryota muttering reassuring words. 

But within Sakuragi's head the only thing he could see was Rukawa looking at him… like… like… "Aaaargggh!" 

"Sakuragi-san, your back?" the doctor asked quickly. 

Sakuragi didn't hear him. "Stupid kitsune!" 

Akagi and Ryota sweatdropped. Ayako snorted as she attempted to hide a giggle. The doctor frowned. 

"Kitsune?" the doctor repeated. 

"Oh, that's nothing," Ayako said quickly. "Hanamichi's fine, we'll stay with him until the therapist arrives. Thank you so much for your time, doctor." 

"You're welcome," said the doctor, and he left them. 

On the bed, Sakuragi had covered his face with his hands. "Argh… K'so!" 

"Hanamichi's just upset that Rukawa's the one responsible for saving his back from even more serious injury," said Ryota, waving it off. "It kills him to be indebted to that guy." 

Sakuragi slapped himself a few times, but the image of Rukawa's face still wouldn't leave him alone. "K'so!" 

"Woi, there _are_ other patients here, you know," Akagi scolded. 

Ayako crossed her arms as she looked at the invalid. "I don't think he's listening to you. Akagi-sempai, Ryota, why don't you guys go get us a drink or something? Haruko and I will… take care of him." There was a shuffling of feet as the captain and ex-captain walked off. 

Sakuragi felt like clawing the skin of his face. Why had the kitsune looked at him like that? Why? And why the hell did it bother him so much? And it wasn't only that _look_ but also how Rukawa had held him. He could still remember everything painfully clear: Rukawa's smell, the comfortable strength of his chest, the sound of his heartbeat, how his arms had fit so snug around him. 

What upset him even more was the rather obvious answer that was flashing before his eyes in neon lights. But that just wasn't possible... It was _Rukawa_ for crying out loud! 

_K'so…_ Sakuragi scrunched his eyes shut. _K'so._

"You know, it was so sweet of Rukawa, what he did," Haruko said. 

Sakuragi stopped cursing, and carefully opened his eyes a fraction. Haruko was looking at Ayako, not him, apparently in conversation with the team manager. 

"Wasn't it sweet of him?" Haruko asked Ayako again. 

Sakuragi's mouth opened and closed. _No. No. Not sweet._

Ayako nodded, also smiling. "Yeah. I wish I could have been there to see it." 

_Nani?! What for?!_

Haruko's eyes softened. "You know, Ayako-san, when I first arrived at the gym and I saw them there on the floor, the look on Rukawa's face was like…" She shivered, hugging herself. "He looked so _lost_. And even scared. I think he was almost in as much pain as Hanamichi-kun." 

_Lost? Pain? Huh?_

Ayako blinked in surprise. Softly, she said, "Really?" 

Haruko nodded. "You know, I think I finally understand what you've been trying to tell me." 

Ayako grinned. Then, at the exact same time, both girls turned to look at Sakuragi, who was staring wide-eyed at the both of them in return. 

"What?" Sakuragi said. 

"Shall I go or shall you?" Ayako asked the other girl. 

"You go," said Haruko. Ayako nodded and walked off, giving Sakuragi a little wave as she disappeared behind the divider curtain. 

"What was that about?" Sakuragi asked. 

Haruko smiled at him. "You'll see." She leaned forward and squeezed Sakuragi's hand. "Don't let your tensai ego get in the way, Hanamichi-kun." 

"What are you babbling about?" Sakuragi demanded. "Why were you talking about the kitsune like that? What's going on?" 

The divider curtain opened a fraction and Ayako's face peeked in. "He's here." 

"Who?!" Sakuragi demanded. 

"Your Rukawa," said Haruko. 

Sakuragi sputtered. _What does she mean *my* Rukawa?!_

Haruko smiled at him again before leaving with Ayako. The divider curtain drew shut, and a few seconds later a dark shadow appeared behind the thin plastic, this one much too tall to be girls or Ryota, and too lanky to be Akagi. 

Sakuragi let out a little shriek and quickly shut his eyes, pretending to be asleep. 

He heard the divider curtain slide open and the soft footsteps of someone approaching his bed. Well, not just any _someone_, because it was Rukawa. Even with his eyes shut, Sakuragi knew it was Rukawa. There was no mistaking that presence. _K'so._

"Oi." Yup, Rukawa. 

Sakuragi forced his facial muscles to remain perfectly still. _Maybe the kitsune'll think I've fallen asleep and go away. Yeah, just lie still for long enough and he'll go away. Go away. Go away! Now!_

Then there was the sound of a chair being scraped across the floor and placed against the bed, then the sound of a body dropping into said chair. 

_K'so. I'm asleep, go away!_

After a while there was the sound of faint snoring. 

Sakuragi carefully opened his eyes to see that Rukawa had apparently fallen asleep in the chair next to him, his head nodding dangerously close to the bed. 

_Ugh._ Sakuragi tried to scoot away from Rukawa although his back was still protesting. But just then a strong hand jumped out to clamp his wrist and Sakuragi found himself once again under the intense scrutiny of icy blue eyes. Correction, deep blue eyes. They were most certainly no longer icy, and noticing that fact didn't do much to reduce how disconcerting it was. 

Sakuragi tried to tug his wrist away. "Let go." Usually Mr Superman, his strength seemed to have mysteriously abandoned him at the moment – though he couldn't really be blamed for that considering the current circumstances... 

Rukawa continued to stare at him, and to Sakuragi's horror a blush started to work its away up his neck. And that was *wrong*, because blushes are strictly reserved for… _K'so._

"Let go." 

"How's the back?" Rukawa asked, grip tightening slightly on the wrist. 

Sakuragi scowled. "Okay." 

Rukawa nodded. "Good." 

"Let go, please?" Sakuragi asked, and to his surprise Rukawa complied. "Thank you." _*Why* did I just say thank you?_

Rukawa sighed a bit, then settled back into his chair. 

"What are you doing, kitsune?" 

"Keeping you company, do'aho." 

"I don't _need_ your company! Get Haruko, or Ayako, or Ryocchin, or even Gori!" 

Rukawa narrowed his eyes at him. Slowly and deliberately, Rukawa got out of his chair. Then with surprisingly liquid grace, he climbed onto the bed on top of Sakuragi, bracing his hands on either side of the do'aho's head and knees outside of Sakuragi's own. 

Sakuragi blubbered stupidly, forgetting that under more normal circumstances he could easily punch or kick Rukawa off him – except that now of course there was the matter of his (curse curse curse) back. Oh, and also because every single muscle cell in his body had been knocked into total non-mobility at the sight of Rukawa being so _close_ to him once again. 

Despite how dry his throat felt, Sakuragi managed to squeak, "What are you doing?" 

"Looking at you." 

Sakuragi's eyes popped even wider. "Uh…" 

"Hm." 

_I am not blushing, I'm not! Oh my god, is that *amusement*? How dare he take advantage of the tensai like this and… Oh no, he's looking in me that way again… I… can't… breathe…_

And all of Sakuragi's brain activity stoppped as Rukawa lowered his face down, drew his lips together and kissed… his cheek. 

Then Rukawa climbed off the bed and went to the divider curtains, face still expressionless as though what he had done had been the most natural thing in the world. "I'll get the others." He left. 

Sakuragi stared after him, then raised a trembling hand to touch his cheek. He knew he was supposed to feel disgusted and angry. Supposed to be. And he was definitely _not_ supposed to feel disappointed. 

But at least now he knew what Rukawa was thinking. 

Being unable to headbutt the floor, Sakuragi picked up the phone directory on the counter and slammed it against his forehead, cursing all blue-eyed kitsunes to hell. 

***** 

Everyone knew that Rukawa never laughed, but if there was ever a moment where he would _want_ to laugh, this would be it. 

He stepped out of the ward and lifted a hand to greet the others. 

"That's it?" Ayako asked in surprise. "That was fast." 

Rukawa shrugged. His face was starting to twitch, and he needed to get the others out of the way pronto before they noticed it. 

"Okay, let's go in then," said Ryota, and the four of them entered the ward, leaving him alone in the hallway. 

Rukawa sat down in a waiting chair and carefully covered his face with both hands as the smile forced its way across his features. The smile became a grin. The grin was threatening to become laughter, but Rukawa Kaede _never laughed_, so he fought it down. 

The look on Sakuragi's face when he had bent down to kiss him had been priceless. 

Rukawa shut his eyes and brushed a finger against his lips. The do'aho's skin had been surprisingly soft, and Rukawa had had to bite down his tongue from licking him or even moving toward Sakuragi's lips to learn what those tasted like, too. 

And then there was the look on Sakuragi's face when Rukawa had just turned around and walked away. Just walking away, too, had taken incredible self-control. It would have been terribly easy to take advantage of the do'aho then as he was still helpless on the hospital bed, but this way was admittedly much more fun. 

One would have thought Rukawa would react rather negatively to the discovery of his feelings toward Sakuragi. Even Rukawa had been taken by surprise by how easily his brain had switched off its "hate the do'aho" mode. But, being the more intelligent one of the pair, he figured that the real reason he had been angry with Sakuragi for so long was because he couldn't identify how he really felt for him. Now that he knew... well, things were much easier. 

It was also quite a relief to see that Sakuragi felt quite the same way. After all, no matter how much Sakuragi could fling curses and insults at him, there was no denying how intensely he had blushed just a few moments ago. 

Rukawa sighed and forced his expression to draw back into its usual blank mask. Then he stood up and brushed himself off as he prepared to leave. 

"Rukawa-kun, you're leaving?" He turned to see Ayako standing in the doorway of the ward. 

Rukawa nodded slowly. "For a while." 

"Hanamichi's rather agitated," Ayako said carefully. 

His right eye twitched. 

Ayako's face broke into a wide grin. "Okay. I, um… You go on ahead. I'll um…" She gestured a bit with her hands then quickly re-entered the ward. 

Rukawa clamped his hands over his mouth again to hide another smile. Two smiles in one day, he hadn't thought it was possible. But then again, this was _Sakuragi_, who always brought out the best (and sometimes the worst) in him. 

"Do'aho," he sighed, but this time the word was filled with affection, not contempt. He took one last glance at the ward door, then walked away. 


	8. Subtlety Just Doesn't Work

  
**Pay Attention Please**

by Annie D   
the_80s_chick@lycos.com   
  


CHAPTER 7   
Subtlety Just Doesn't Work 

  


The physiotherapist had arrived. 

"There's absolutely nothing wrong with you as far as I can see." 

"What?! Then why does my back hurt, huh?" 

"Does it hurt now?" 

Pause. "Well, no…" 

"See, then there's nothing wrong with your back." 

"But—but—but—why—how come—" 

"Sakuragi-san, you are in perfect health. Sit up." 

Sakuragi did as he was told, and blinked a few times. "Doesn't hurt. At all." 

"See?" 

"Are you saying the tensai made up the pain?!" 

The physiotherapist backed away carefully. "No… Err… maybe it was just a normal backsprain? Because, really, there's nothing wrong with you." 

Sakuragi stood up and stretched a bit. No pain. At all. Like it had been nothing but a bad dream—but he wouldn't linger on that either. "Oh." (Back gremlins: "Our work is done and now we go off to torment other pairings that need our help woo hoo!") 

"You're free to go, Sakuragi-san," the physiotherapist said. "I'll just sign the discharge forms."   


**** 

By the time Sakuragi had cleared up and was ready to leave the hospital, the sun was setting outside. He walked on stiffly, hands in pockets, eyes darting quickly around, and very effectively ignoring his friends that were accompanying him. 

His thoughts were mostly: _Is he waiting for me - I don't care if he's waiting for me - but is he waiting for me? - why would he be waiting for me - why would he not wait for me? - of course he has no reason to wait for me - but is he waiting for me?_

Sakuragi raised a hand. "Can you excuse me a moment?" 

"Sure, Hanamichi-kun," said Haruko, nodding. 

Sakuragi walked a sort distance away and headbutted the pavement. Then he walked back to group. 

"Feeling better?" Ryota asked. 

Sakuragi shrugged, just managing to show off how stiff his shoulders were. He marched on as the others shadowed him. _Did Rukawa go back? - did he go to see Anzai-sensei? - did he leave completely? - is he waiting round the corner? - does he even care at all? - doesn't he want to know that the tensai is okay?_

He clapped his hands on his cheeks. "Why do I even care?!" 

"Care about what?" Ryota asked. 

Sakuragi looked at him. The perfect word to describe the expression in his eyes: bewildered. "Nothing!" 

Ayako suddenly shouted, "Look, it's Rukawa!" 

Sakuragi's head immediately snapped round. "Rukawa?!" 

Ayako laughed. "Made you look!" 

Two more were added to the bewildered camp: Akagi and Ryota. Slowly, they both looked Sakuragi, then at Ayako, then back to Sakuragi. 

"Why is Sakuragi blushing?" Ryota asked slowly. 

Haruko giggled, eyes going all starry. "Oh, Hanamichi-kun, I knew it! You and Rukawa-kun… You're both so perfect for each other! Hm-hm!" 

Akagi's eyes popped. "Sakuragi. And Rukawa?" 

"Hahahahaha, she's talking nonsense!" Sakuragi laughed quickly. "The tensai is… there's nothing… the kitsune can… um… bye!" He picked up his legs and ran off into the distance, smoke trail disappearing quickly behind him. 

Akagi slowly pinched his cheek. "Reality check." 

"Oh, oniichan, don't you think it's sweet?" Haruko asked. "They bicker all the time but they were actually hiding their real feelings for each other, and it's like all those times they helped each other in their own way and… Waaaaah it's so romantic!" Little pink hearts started to circle her head. 

Ryota made a gagging sound. "I think I'm going to be sick." 

"What, I thought you liked all that mushy nonsense," Ayako said. 

"When it comes to _you_, of course. But Hanamichi and Rukawa… that's just _wrong_!" 

"Why?" Haruko demanded angrily. 

Ryota stared at her. "Because they're always fighting and cannot stand each other." 

Haruko gave him a look. "So it _appeared on the outside_," she said. "But there were all the other seemingly insignificant things here and there… How they responded to each other… Now that I think about it, all those small things Rukawa did for Hanamichi… I don't know why nobody ever noticed it before!" 

"Now you know how I've felt all this while," Ayako sighed. 

Akagi narrowed his eyes at his sister. "I thought you liked Rukawa." 

"I do like him very much, yes," she sighed. "But it's like... Hanamichi and Rukawa... are like... They're just meant to be together!" 

"I think I really am going to be sick," said Ryota his face going a nasty shade. 

"Where is Rukawa-kun, anyway?" Haruko asked. "I thought he'd be waiting for Hanamichi." 

"Oh, there he is," said Akagi, pointing. 

Partially hidden by a wide pot of decorative flowers near the entrance, Rukawa was sitting on a bench – apparently waiting for Sakuragi. He had probably been hoping for the element of surprise, but it wasn't really that good an idea seeing that Rukawa had fallen asleep while waiting (no surprise, really). But both of his hands were in his lap, where they were holding a bouquet of flowers. 

"Waaaaaah!" Haruko wailed. "He got Hanamichi flowers!" 

Ryota shuddered. "Ugh." 

"Looks like he fell asleep waiting for Hanamichi," observed Ayako. 

They walked over to him. 

"So who wants to try to wake him up?" Ayako asked. They looked at each other. 

"Maybe we could throw something at him," suggested Ryota. "And keep a safe distance." 

"He got Hanamichi flowers," Haruko sighed. 

"Wait, let me try something," said Ayako. She cleared her throat, then announced in an over-loud voice, "Sakuragi, there you are!" 

Rukawa jumped to his feet, now wide awake. He quickly looked around. 

"Sorry, Rukawa-kun," apologised Ayako. "Hanamichi's actually left already. You missed him." 

Rukawa scowled. 

"Oh, you dropped your… ahem… _flowers_," said Akagi, pointing. 

Rukawa looked at the fallen bouquet, then sighed. He shrugged at them, then walked off. 

"Oh, he'll find Hanamichi," said Ayako, nodding. 

"I don't need any more mental images, thank you very much, Aya-chan," said Ryota. 

***** 

Maybe flowers weren't really the best way to go. 

But how do you tell someone, who's hated you and you've hated in return for so long, that you've suddenly self-appointed yourself their personal protector against the rest of the world? 

Rukawa sighed. 

***** 

_Run…_

Sakuragi ran. He had no idea what he was running from or where he was running to, but that didn't matter, because by running that meant he was keeping his body in constant motion, thus reducing the probability of accidentally meeting the kitsune. 

Actually he wasn't even sure why he didn't want to see Rukawa, or whether he actually did want to see him but wasn't sure how to act, so he just kept on running in the hopes of running into a spark of inspiration that would somehow cause everything to make sense in his head. 

Sakuragi still couldn't quite compute it: Rukawa had kissed him. 

He ran into a lamppost. 

He picked himself up quickly, turning his head this way and that to see whether Rukawa was anywhere nearby. He wasn't, and Sakuragi wasn't sure whether he ought to sigh in relief or frustration. So he just sighed, danced a bit on his feet uncertainly, then ran off for home. 

Home looked clear, too. There was no sign Rukawa was anywhere in the vicinity, at all. 

Later on Ayako and Haruko came to visit him (they had also dragged Akagi and Ryota along), but there was still no sign of Rukawa. All four of them eyed Sakuragi carefully during the visit, and the one passing mention of Rukawa made him run into a wall, so they did not mention the kitsune at all during the rest of the visit. 

After the guests had left, Sakuragi had dinner, after which he went to the small pathetic little "lawn" behind his house to practice some hoops and see whether his back really was all better. 

Still Rukawa was nowhere around. 

And then finally it was bedtime. Sakuragi retreated to his room, undressed, then went to brush his teeth – _why is the tensai frowning like that? My eyebrows hurt _– and finally settled down for nighty night. He snuggled into the blanket, definitely not thinking about how Rukawa had been a much nicer comforter, forced his eyes shut and tried to sleep. 

_One sheep. Two sheep. Three sheep. Four sheep._

_And twenty-two basketballs._

Sakuragi's eyelids popped open. He gripped the edges of his blanket. 

_One sheep. Two sheep. Three sheep. Four sheep._

_And one kitsune._

"Aaaarggggh!" Sakuragi pounded his fists against the mattress. He tried to inventory the way the world was *supposed* to work. Sky is blue, grass is green, he hated Rukawa, Rukawa hated him. _But then again the sky does get orange and red and pink, and grass does come in various shades including brown and yellow and…_

Sakuragi hugged himself. People did tend to underestimate his ability to really _think_, and they really weren't off the marker that much with that one, but it's at rare times such as these that his mind does open itself. Very rare, but still does happen. 

So Rukawa was an actual human being. With feelings. And the ability to care. 

But when did he stop being a cold-hearted self-centred basketball hog? _I don't know. I never bothered to notice._

When did the mere sight of him make Sakuragi feel so alive? _I don't know. I'd gotten to used to him being around._

Rukawa. Had kissed him. Well, _okay_, so it was a sad little peck, but it still counted as lip contact! Was it possible that Rukawa cared? For _him_? Really? But _why_? Because his back happened to give way? Because they happened… to… share… some… body heat…? 

Sakuragi quickly wiped away his drool. 

"Oh no," he murmured, staring at the dark ceiling as things started to fall into place. He was thinking about Rukawa in _that _way. Which should be the wrong way, innit? "K'so! Stupid kitsune!" 

When did things get so complicated? _I don't know. Must've missed it._

He sighed and shut his eyes again. 

_One sheep. Two sheep. Three sheep. And a tapping at the window._

_Tapping at the window?!_

Sakuragi slithered deeper into the blankets, which he drew up to his nose. Then he dared to take a tiny peek at the window. Not that the tensai was afraid, mind you, it was just that, um, he was still tired from all the hullabaloo of the day, yeah that's it. 

Stones were being thrown at the window. Oh wait, that wasn't so bad, since Yohei did that. Yup, had to be Yohei. So Sakuragi got out of bed and marched to the window. He carefully pushed it open and looked down. 

Just to have a stone hit him in the face. 

"Ayeeaggh you could have taken my eye out!" Sakuragi rubbed his forehead. "And what's the big deal that you had…" 

"Keep your voice down, do'aho." 

Finally registering the tall figure on the pavement below his window, Sakuragi made a sound something like, "Wgak!" His eyes bulged once again. He started to wheeze. _The kitsune. Is standing. Under my room window. Right now. At night. _He swallowed. _I'm going to throw up._

"How's the back?" Rukawa asked. 

"Huh?" 

Rukawa rolled his eyes. 

"O-oh! My back! Oh, it's okay. Just a sprain or something." _I am definitely going to be sick._

Rukawa's gaze locked on his, then he said softly, "I want to talk to you." 

Panic alarms went off in Sakuragi's head. "Why?" 

Without answering, Rukawa stepped up to the thick vertical-lined pipe on the side of Sakuragi's two-storey home, hitching his foot on the bottom-most partition. He tilted his head to look up at Sakuragi. 

Sakuragi said, "What are you doing?" 

"Climbing up." Rukawa gripped his hands on the pipe. 

"NOOOO!" 

"Shut up, do'aho." Bracing his feet on the partition, he heaved his body up off the ground. 

"Stop stop stop!" Sakuragi said quickly. Rukawa ignored him, adjusting his feet on the next partition and climbing up slowly. Sakuragi leaned over the window and gestured frantically. "Rukawa, stop climbing! You want to talk, okay we can talk, I'll come down. You stop climbing!" 

Rukawa raised his eyebrows. 

"Yes!" Sakuragi said. "I'll come down, I promise, now STOP CLIMBING!" 

Rukawa nodded, then jumped back onto the pavement. 

Sakuragi practically flew out of his room and down the staircase, and only by the time he reached the knob of the main door did he stop to think. _What am I doing? _He stared at the white wood, forced his shoulders to relax, then sighed. _I'll figure that out later. Right now I'll just… I'll figure that out later, too._


	9. The Way Things Ought To Be

****

  
**Pay Attention Please**

by Annie D   
the_80s_chick@lycos.com 

  


CHAPTER 8   
The Way Things Ought to Be 

  


Sakuragi took a deep breath, then opened the door. 

Although a metal gate stood between them, the air still managed to crackle with electricity (although not the usual sort, this time, hee hee) as they looked at each other. This time really *looking* at each other. 

Sakuragi: _No. His eyes aren't cold. Not anymore. They're… lonely. Stony Rukawa Kaede, standing alone in the world, not caring about anyone because nobody cares about him. Is that who he really is? I wonder why I never noticed…_

Rukawa: _He really is innocent, that wide-eyed look just being him. This is who he really is, isn't it? He's still just a scared little boy trying to find his way in the world, hiding his insecurity behind laughter and ego boosting. I wonder why I never noticed..._

The spell was broken by the loud squawking of a bird on a nearby tree. 

Sakuragi cleared his throat and quickly walked to the gate, unhitching the bolt and opening it. Before Rukawa was able to enter, Sakuragi pushed it outward quickly, causing the dark-haired boy to stumble a bit_. Did you really think I'd let you in? _Not bothering to apologise, Sakuragi stepped onto the pavement, closed the gate behind him and looked away. 

"So. I'm here. Talk. The tensai was about to go to sleep, you know. Some people just have no consideration, why couldn't you have come earlier to say whatever it is you want to say?" 

Rukawa stuffed his hands into his pockets. "I was thinking." He paused. "About you." 

Sakuragi stared at the tree opposite the road. Lots of leaves, that tree. And branches. Lots of branches. And lots of leaves, connected to the branches. 

"So, what is it you wanted to say?" 

"I just want to talk." 

"About what?" 

"Anything." 

"Why?" 

"Because I want to know you, Sakuragi." 

Sakuragi bit down a panicked gasp. That tree really did have a lot of leaves. Small ones, big ones, deep green ones, light green ones, old brown ones. "Why?" 

"Just because." 

Sakuragi shuffled his feet a bit. Come to think of it, he wanted to know about Rukawa as well. They had been teammates (well, more like teamrivals) for a whole season the last year, but there was so little they knew about each other. Sakuragi suddenly felt curious. Who _was _Rukawa Kaede? 

"Why do you play basketball, Rukawa?" Sakuragi asked. 

Rukawa started in surprise. 

Sakuragi then quickly added, "It's none of my business, I know, but you said to talk about anything, and this counts as an anything, although it isn't really about me like you said, but you _did _say to talk about anything." 

Rukawa sighed. "I play because I want to be the best." 

Sakuragi's eyes furrowed even further as he continued to give the poor tree the stare of death. "And then what?" 

"Hm?" 

"And then what? When you're the best? Best in Japan, best in the world, then what? What you do then? What do you have left?" Sakuragi waved his arms a bit in vague gestures, but kept his gaze on the tree. "I feel so sorry for you, you know, Rukawa. You try so hard to be the best, but I don't think you even know how to enjoy the game, like the rest of us do. Be the best. Then what? What's your real purpose, Rukawa?" 

Another soft silence. "I don't have one." 

Sakuragi hmphed. "How pathetic." 

There was a soft rustle, and when Rukawa spoke again, the sound was much closer to Sakuragi's ears. "I do _want _one, though." 

_When did this happen? When did Rukawa suddenly become a human being? When did he start to care? When did I?_

Sakuragi turned, and they both spoke at the same time. "I..." "Well..." 

They looked at each other, then looked away quickly. 

Sakuragi wrinkled his nose. "Baka kitsune. Since when did you get all talkative, anyway?" 

"Since I met you." 

There it was. A confession, albeit a very vague one tucked and hidden carefully between a short sentence that could be taken a million other ways, but a confession all the same. They both turned to look at each other. 

Sakuragi's mouth opened. "Oh." He blinked. "Oh." 

Rukawa nodded, then took a quick step forward to grab Sakuragi's shirt. Sakuragi's mouth opened to protest, but then Rukawa tugged sharply at the shirt, narrowing the distance between them. 

His mouth stopped just a little less than an inch from Sakuragi's. 

Sakuragi stared into those blue eyes. 

Rukawa then whispered on top of his mouth, "I won't if you don't want me to." 

"I… I…" 

"Hm?" 

Sakuragi blinked as though drugged. Taking a soft breath – the faint brush of cool air causing both their lips to tingle – Sakuragi leaned in for his first ever real kiss. 

Rukawa eyes widened momentarily in surprise, then shuttered shut as he melted his lips into the kiss, sighing with relief. He guided the adorably inexperienced Sakuragi to tilt his head slightly to the right, gently coaxed his mouth open and slid his tongue into his mouth. 

Somewhere in the back of Sakuragi's (incredibly light-headed) mind, he was thinking, _Oh, so this is what Cloud 9 feels like._

Eventually (quite a while later, mind) Rukawa pulled away, out of the need to breathe rather than wanting to stop the kiss. He held Sakuragi's hands in his own, and with the serious tones usually taken when discussing basketball strategies, he said, "I like you, Sakuragi." 

Sakuragi brushed his nose against Rukawa's – it just felt totally natural to do it. "I like you, too, Rukawa." 

They looked at each other, thinking the exact same thing. _This is what we've been waiting for. This is *right*._

Rukawa's mouth unfolded into a smile as his brought his lips back against Sakuragi's. They wrapped their arms around each other in a frighteningly perfect fit, taking their first real hug and relishing everything that their overloaded senses were willing to take. 

Sakuragi slowly opened his eyes as he continued to caress and lick the Rukawa's lips with his own. 

_This is me. Kissing Rukawa. I should be disgusted, shouldn't I?_

He pulled away, causing Rukawa to frown. 

"So is that it?" Sakuragi asked, carefully forcing his breathing to steady. "We're enemies and rivals, and then suddenly we're... this?" 

Rukawa punched him across the jaw. 

Sakuragi yelped, and was about to instinctively send his own fist flying back, when Rukawa grabbed his collar and pulled him close to snog him for all it was worth. Snog, not kiss – meaning involving some definite hungry lip and tongue movements that some people think should be made illegal. 

Finally pulling away, Rukawa then said, "So which do you prefer?" 

Sakuragi's dazed expression twitched, then a slow grin crept across his face. "The second one." 

"Good." 

Rukawa was about to kiss him again when Sakuragi punched him back, grinning madly. "Hah! You think you can punch the tensai just like that? Hahahahahaha now we're even!" 

Rukawa sighed as he rubbed his jaw. "There really is no way to cure a do'aho." 

"What?!" Sakuragi growled as he grabbed Rukawa by the collar to shake him. 

"Excuse me!" 

They both turned, to see a middle-aged man gesturing at them from the second-floor of his house which was opposite Sakuragi's. The guy said, "Can you please take it somewhere else? You're rather... loud." 

Sakuragi blushed briefly, then gave out a protest as Rukawa tugged his arm forcefully. Rukawa quickly opened the gate, pushed Sakuragi inside, entered, shut the gate, then walked toward the door of the house and opened it. "Oi, do'aho." 

"Tensai! It's the tensai! Don't call me do'aho!" Sakuragi snapped, running after him. 

Rukawa shrugged and entered the house. Just as Sakuragi was about to enter after him, he saw the neighbour give him a thumbs-up sign. Sakuragi stared a bit, blinking in amazement at how quickly the situation had changed. _I still don't know what I'm doing, but…_

He turned to see Rukawa turn on the television in the living room, quickly surfing to the sports channel. 

_But at least now I have Rukawa._

He sweatdropped as the full implications of that thought slowly started to sink in. 

_I have Rukawa._

Sakuragi calmly shut the door, then ran straight toward Rukawa with arms open – having sort of planned for a hug, but somehow miscalculated his momentum and just ended up sending the both of them falling to the carpeted floor. 

"Err herr herr…" Sakuragi laughed a bit, sitting up and scratching his head. 

Rukawa blinked at him in surprise. 

"I have Rukawa Kaede," Sakuragi announced seriously. 

Rukawa smiled. "I have Sakuragi Hanamichi." 

Sakuragi crossed his legs on the carpet floor and clasped his hands together in his lap. "Now, Rukawa—" 

"Kaede." 

_Woo… _Sakuragi smiled again, proud at how he was (somewhat) hiding down the fact that he felt like bouncing off the walls at the moment. "Kaede. Tell me about yourself." 

Rukawa adjusted his own sitting position to be directly in front of Sakuragi's, their knees almost touching. "All right. So what do you want to know?" 

"Everything." 

"And then you'll tell me everything about yourself?" 

"Yes." Sakuragi nodded vigorously. 

Rukawa reached out a hand to brush Sakuragi's cheek. "Deal. Then we make out some more." 

Sakuragi's mouth dropped open for a moment, but he shut it quickly, wishing like crazy that he had more control on his cheeks' tendency to blush furiously. He swallowed a little, then smiled – a soft smile that curled shyly at the edges and almost certainly caused Rukawa to gape in wonderment – before nodding again. 

"Okay." 


	10. Closing

**Pay Attention Please**

by Annie D   
the_80s_chick@lycos.com   


CLOSING 

  


On one hand, I'm relieved that they finally got things straightened out properly. 

On the other hand, even my fan-slapping cannot stop them when they start making out in public. 

Sakuragi Hanamichi and Rukawa Kaede, who fell in hate at first sight, are now the most nauseatingly sweet couple I've ever seen. And I don't know whether to laugh at them or throw a bucket of water on them. Haruko has settled for squealing "They're so sweet!", Akagi has settled for roaring at them (okay, so not much change there) and Ryota has settled for giving them dirty glares before turning to me with a terribly hopeful look in his eyes. 

I had thought it had been fun watching them bicker. But it's even _more _fun to take them places and see everyone's reaction to their newfound coupledom. Hanamichi's enjoying it, too, as he has accosted quite a number of people (schoolmates or innocent bystanders) to point at Rukawa while announcing giddily, "That's my boyfriend! Aren't you jealous? Yes, you are! _My _boyfriend is Rukawa Kaede! Hahahahahaha!" (I think he gave quite a number of Shohoku girls a heart attack with that one.) 

And yeah, I know what I did counts as getting involved, but that's because I finally realised that although I'm the team manager, I'm also their friend. And I want to see my friends happy. Belated decision? Well, better late than never. 

People can say whatever they like, but Rukawa and Hanamichi really are perfect for one another. I've never seen two happier people in my life. They used to drive each other nuts - and they still do, actually, but now in a different way. So opposite, yet so alike, balancing each other out so well. 

Don't think just because they're an item (whoa, that gives me goosebumps) means they've changed much. Rukawa is still Mr Monosyllabic, and Hanamichi is still Mr Tensai Super Ego. But as everyone can see, they're more alive. Especially Rukawa, if you can imagine such a thing. He smiles now, although I do note that they're only reserved for Hanamichi. Amazing. 

And, although people don't really notice this, quite often I've seen them bend their heads toward one another, talking softly. Nobody knows what they talk about, and I don't think it's anything mushy, more like just... talking. They way a couple should talk - about anything and everything, learning things about each other that no one else in the world could have the right to know. I even get a little jealous sometimes, but it's hard not to happy for them. 

They still do fight occasionally, but I think that's just an excuse to have make-up sessions. (cough) 

And of course Hanamichi's own training has intensified for the oncoming IH, although I don't think that would be a problem since he's playing terribly good now that he has Rukawa to cheer him on. (Although 'cheer' would be too strong a word. He more like just stands there and nods every once in a while. Occasionally he smiles, and _that _makes Hanamichi blush the colour of his hair.) 

So the future isn't certain for them. Rukawa still hasn't decided whether he wants to continue in the All-Japan or return to Shohoku, and although Hanamichi hasn't said it out right, he doesn't want Rukawa to throw his professional career away. There's still school to attend, games to play, growing up to do. 

But for now, they have each other, and that's enough. The rest of us of course are supportive of whatever decision they make, and I think that the right decisions will be the easiest. 

So wish them luck. 

Ja ne! 

FIN 


End file.
